knees.Hewasalsopronetofrequentbouts
ofbronchitis,whichmadedancingdiffi-
cult.Buthekeptlearning,practicing,and
performing.
Jacqueslovedtobeabsorbedinthemusic
ashedanced,floatingandflyingthrough
spaceandlandingassoftlyasa raindropina
drizzle.Heexpressedfeelingswithmovement,
whilemakingdifficultstepslookeffortless.
Hisjumpsexplodedwithenergyandexu-
berance.Buthewasjustasimmersedinthe
musicwhenhewaslightlyholdinga balleri-
na’shandasshebalancedononefoot.When
themusicwasquietandslow,hiselegantges-
turesweresilentwordsthattolda story.In the early days of his career,
Jacques danced in the corps de
ballet with a group of other danc-
ers. At seventeen, he was promoted
to principal dancer and took on
important individual roles. For
Jacques, Balanchine revived a bal-
let he had choreographed—Apollo,
about an uncouth young God
who learned nobility through art.
It was a breakout role for Jacques
professionally and personally. From
then on, he set the bar higher and
higher for himself as an artist.
In 1953, Hollywood noticed
thehandsomeyoungdancer.
Attheageofnineteen,Jacques
dancedintheroleofEphraimin
thefilmSevenBridesforSeven
Brothers. Attwenty-two,hedanced
ina dreamsequenceduetin
Carousel,histrademarkenthusiasmat full
display.Butit wasonstagethathetruly
belonged.
Insteadofdreamingaboutbeinga super
heroora pirate,Jacquesdancedtherolesof a
prince,a cowboy,a prodigalson,anda Greek
God.Whetherhewasturning,leaping,or
justwalking,beautifulmusictransportedhim
toanotherworld.Surroundedbychoreogra-
phers,musicians,anddancers,balletbecame
Jacques’slife.Ina careerofoverthirtyyears,
Balanchinechoreographedmorerolesforhim
thanforanyotherdancer.
Theboytransformedbydancebecame the
firstgreatAmericanmaledancerofhisera.UNCOUTH MEANS UNCULTURED,
UNREFINED, COARSE.EGADS!
(SHUDDER)Remembering^ how^ dancing^ had^ cha
nged^ his^ childhood, Jacq
uesstarted the National^ Dance^ Institute^to^ give^ free^ dance (^) class
es
for thousands of^ childr
en^ in^
New^ Y
ork^ City^ public^ schools.