The Return of the Classic Films Obituary Thread

[CBHagman]

7. Dancer and arts educator Jacques d'Amboise, 86

Last edited Mon Feb 28, 2022, 11:34 PM - Edit history (1)

TCM fans will have seen him many times as one of the dancing backwoodsmen in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He was also the subject of an award-winning documentary, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jacques-damboise-dead/2021/05/03/a94d8fe4-2254-11e0-8c82-11d7dab8bc4b_story.html

Jacques d’Amboise, an exuberant star of the New York City Ballet for three decades and a favorite of its legendarily exacting choreographer George Balanchine before becoming a champion of arts education, died May 2 at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.

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Mr. d’Amboise originated key roles in works such as the upbeat and patriotic “Stars and Stripes” (1958); the minimalist “Episodes” (1959) and “Movements for Piano and Orchestra” (1963); and “Jewels” (1967), a lavish, three-act work with no plot.

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“What stayed with me was d’Amboise’s matchless delight in moving on a stage,” Dance Magazine editor Allan Ulrich wrote in 2007. “You felt he was put on earth for the sole purpose of giving himself and his audience pleasure through dancing. He could execute the most demanding Balanchine combination with a debonair freedom that banished all thought of exhibitionism.”

In addition to his career with the elite ballet company, Mr. d’Amboise danced on Broadway alongside chanteuse Eartha Kitt in “Shinbone Alley” (1957) and in films including “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954) and the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein musical “Carousel” (1956).

His IMDB credits:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0195073/