Jacques d'Amboise
Former Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet
Honored Educator
Founder, National Dance Institute
Recognized as one of the finest classical dancers of our time, Jacques d’Amboise now leads the field of arts education with a model program that exposes thousands of school children to the magic and discipline of dance. In 1976, while still a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Mr. d’Amboise founded National Dance Institute in the belief that the arts have a unique power to engage and motivate individuals towards excellence.
His contributions in arts education have earned him numerous awards and honors including: Honorary Doctorate of Letters at Montclair State University (2012), The Fred and Adele Astair Award (2011), Dance Teacher Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2011), The Vasterling Award for Artistic Vision and Excellence in Dance (2010), induction into The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2007); The Children’s Champion Award, Child Magazine (2007); The Mayor’s Award for Arts & Culture (2004); Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at St. Joseph College (2003); The James Keller Youth Award, The Christophers (2002); The Arison Award (2002); People First Honoree, People Magazine (2002); Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at Franklin Pierce College (2002); The Heinz Award (2001); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts at the University of the South (2001); Town Hall Friend of the Arts Award (2000); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts at the Juilliard School (2000); The Dance Magazine Award (1999); The National Medal of Arts (1998); NCEA St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award (1996); The Kennedy Center Honors (1995); The National Caring Award, The Caring Institute (1995); The Museum of the City of New York - $24 Award; The Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1993); a 1990 MacArthur Fellowship (known as the genius awards): The Capezio Award (1990); The First Annual Producers Circle Award for public service (1989); The Paul Robeson Award for excellence in the field of the humanities (1988); The Governor’s Award for outstanding contributions to the arts and culture of New York State (1986); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Boston College (1986); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Monmouth University (1984); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Bates College (1978); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Saint Peter’s College (1978); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - College of New Rochelle (1976); and The Nancy Hank Fellowship - Duke University. Mr. d’Amboise is also an Honorary Big Brother.
He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’, a 1984 PBS documentary film about his work with NDI, won an Academy Award, six Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, the Golden Cine Award, and the National Education Association Award for the advancement of learning through broadcasting. He has also served as a full professor and Dean of Dance for two years at SUNY Purchase, and for eleven years as visiting professor at the College of Creative Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara.
Mr. d’Amboise began his ballet training with Madam Seda in Washington Heights, New York. Within a year, at the age of 8, he continued his studies at the School of American Ballet with George Balanchine, Anatola Oboukhoff and Pierre Vladimiroff. At age 12 he performed with Ballet Society, the immediate predecessor to New York City Ballet. Three years later, barely 15, he joined New York City Ballet and the following year made his European debut at London’s Covent Garden. As Balanchine’s protégé, Mr. d’Amboise had more works choreographed specifically for him by The Ballet Master than any other dancer, including the ballets: Stars and Stripes, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Episodes, Figures in the Carpet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jewels, Raymonda Variations, Meditation, and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. Mr. d’Amboise is most remembered for his portrayal of what critics called “the definitive Apollo.” As a choreographer, Mr. d’Amboise’s credits include almost twenty works commissioned for New York City Ballet. Mr. d’Amboise’s work in dance education has taken him all over the world—from the extremes of Yakutsk, Siberia, to the Danakil Desert in Ethiopia, from 13,000 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea to the mountains of Nepal, and from the dryness of the Atacama Desert in Chile to rainforests on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Chain. Over the last 30 years, NDI programs in New York City and its associates, both nationally and internationally, have reached and influenced over 2 million children, in particular the programs National Dance Institute have integrated with the city of Shanghai, China.
Mr. d’Amboise, in the course of his career, did several movies; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (MGM), Carousel, Best Things in Life Are Free (20th Century Fox), He has directed and choreographed on Broadway and produced, conceived, directed and choreographed fifteen productions for the Feld forum at Madison Square Garden. Home Box Office has featured him in two films; Jacques d’Amboise in Shanghai and Master Teacher.
The publishing house Alfred A. Knopf, a subsidiary of Random House has published his auto-biography “I Was A Dancer.” There is, coming out in 2013/2014, a fictional backstage thriller at the ballet presently titled “The Ghost Watcher.”
Honored Educator
Founder, National Dance Institute
Recognized as one of the finest classical dancers of our time, Jacques d’Amboise now leads the field of arts education with a model program that exposes thousands of school children to the magic and discipline of dance. In 1976, while still a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Mr. d’Amboise founded National Dance Institute in the belief that the arts have a unique power to engage and motivate individuals towards excellence.
His contributions in arts education have earned him numerous awards and honors including: Honorary Doctorate of Letters at Montclair State University (2012), The Fred and Adele Astair Award (2011), Dance Teacher Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2011), The Vasterling Award for Artistic Vision and Excellence in Dance (2010), induction into The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2007); The Children’s Champion Award, Child Magazine (2007); The Mayor’s Award for Arts & Culture (2004); Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at St. Joseph College (2003); The James Keller Youth Award, The Christophers (2002); The Arison Award (2002); People First Honoree, People Magazine (2002); Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at Franklin Pierce College (2002); The Heinz Award (2001); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts at the University of the South (2001); Town Hall Friend of the Arts Award (2000); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts at the Juilliard School (2000); The Dance Magazine Award (1999); The National Medal of Arts (1998); NCEA St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award (1996); The Kennedy Center Honors (1995); The National Caring Award, The Caring Institute (1995); The Museum of the City of New York - $24 Award; The Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1993); a 1990 MacArthur Fellowship (known as the genius awards): The Capezio Award (1990); The First Annual Producers Circle Award for public service (1989); The Paul Robeson Award for excellence in the field of the humanities (1988); The Governor’s Award for outstanding contributions to the arts and culture of New York State (1986); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Boston College (1986); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Monmouth University (1984); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Bates College (1978); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - Saint Peter’s College (1978); Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts - College of New Rochelle (1976); and The Nancy Hank Fellowship - Duke University. Mr. d’Amboise is also an Honorary Big Brother.
He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’, a 1984 PBS documentary film about his work with NDI, won an Academy Award, six Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, the Golden Cine Award, and the National Education Association Award for the advancement of learning through broadcasting. He has also served as a full professor and Dean of Dance for two years at SUNY Purchase, and for eleven years as visiting professor at the College of Creative Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara.
Mr. d’Amboise began his ballet training with Madam Seda in Washington Heights, New York. Within a year, at the age of 8, he continued his studies at the School of American Ballet with George Balanchine, Anatola Oboukhoff and Pierre Vladimiroff. At age 12 he performed with Ballet Society, the immediate predecessor to New York City Ballet. Three years later, barely 15, he joined New York City Ballet and the following year made his European debut at London’s Covent Garden. As Balanchine’s protégé, Mr. d’Amboise had more works choreographed specifically for him by The Ballet Master than any other dancer, including the ballets: Stars and Stripes, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Episodes, Figures in the Carpet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jewels, Raymonda Variations, Meditation, and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. Mr. d’Amboise is most remembered for his portrayal of what critics called “the definitive Apollo.” As a choreographer, Mr. d’Amboise’s credits include almost twenty works commissioned for New York City Ballet. Mr. d’Amboise’s work in dance education has taken him all over the world—from the extremes of Yakutsk, Siberia, to the Danakil Desert in Ethiopia, from 13,000 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea to the mountains of Nepal, and from the dryness of the Atacama Desert in Chile to rainforests on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Chain. Over the last 30 years, NDI programs in New York City and its associates, both nationally and internationally, have reached and influenced over 2 million children, in particular the programs National Dance Institute have integrated with the city of Shanghai, China.
Mr. d’Amboise, in the course of his career, did several movies; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (MGM), Carousel, Best Things in Life Are Free (20th Century Fox), He has directed and choreographed on Broadway and produced, conceived, directed and choreographed fifteen productions for the Feld forum at Madison Square Garden. Home Box Office has featured him in two films; Jacques d’Amboise in Shanghai and Master Teacher.
The publishing house Alfred A. Knopf, a subsidiary of Random House has published his auto-biography “I Was A Dancer.” There is, coming out in 2013/2014, a fictional backstage thriller at the ballet presently titled “The Ghost Watcher.”
Stella Abrera
Stella Abrera of South Pasadena, California, began her studies with Philip and Charles Fuller and Cynthia Young at Le Studio in Pasadena. She continued her studies with Lorna Diamond and Patricia Hoffman at the West Coast Ballet Theatre in San Diego. She also spent three years studying the Royal Academy of Dancing method with Joan and Monica Halliday at the Halliday Dance Centre in Sydney, Australia.
Abrera joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 1996 and was appointed a Soloist in 2001. Her repertoire with ABT includes the Girl in Afternoon of a Faun, Calliope in Apollo, Gamzatti and a Shade in La Bayadère, the Ballerina in The Bright Stream, Cinderella in Cinderella, Aurora in Coppélia, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, She Wore a Perfume in Dim Lustre, the woman in white in Diversion of Angels, Mercedes, the Driad Queen and a Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Helena in The Dream, the first passerby in Fancy Free, Myrta and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Manon in Lady of the Camellias, Lescaut's Mistress in Manon, His Friend's Wife in The Moor's Pavane, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in Kevin McKenzie's The Nutcracker, one of The Nutcracker's Sisters in Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, Emilia in Othello, the Ballerina in Petrouchka, Henrietta in Raymonda, Lady Capulet and a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, the Lilac Fairy, the Fairy of Valor and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the pas de trois in Swan Lake, the violin in Symphonie Concertante, leading roles in Airs, Baker's Dozen, Ballet Imperial, Birthday Offering, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, C. to C. (Close to Chuck), Everything Doesn't Happen at Once, In the Upper Room, Jabula, The Leaves Are Fading, Meadow, Petite Mort, Sinfonietta, Les Sylphides, Symphonic Variations, Symphony #9, Symphony in C, Thirteen Diversions, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, Without Words and workwithinwork, and featured roles in Black Tuesday and Gong.
Abrera created the roles of His Memory and His Experiences in HereAfter, the Spanish Dance in Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, His Mistress in Weren't We Fools? and leading roles in Pièce d'Occasion with Herbie Hancock, Pretty Good Year and Seven Sonatas.
Abrera received the Gold Medal at the Royal Academy of Dancing's Adeline Genée Awards in London in 1995.
Abrera joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 1996 and was appointed a Soloist in 2001. Her repertoire with ABT includes the Girl in Afternoon of a Faun, Calliope in Apollo, Gamzatti and a Shade in La Bayadère, the Ballerina in The Bright Stream, Cinderella in Cinderella, Aurora in Coppélia, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, She Wore a Perfume in Dim Lustre, the woman in white in Diversion of Angels, Mercedes, the Driad Queen and a Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Helena in The Dream, the first passerby in Fancy Free, Myrta and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Manon in Lady of the Camellias, Lescaut's Mistress in Manon, His Friend's Wife in The Moor's Pavane, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in Kevin McKenzie's The Nutcracker, one of The Nutcracker's Sisters in Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, Emilia in Othello, the Ballerina in Petrouchka, Henrietta in Raymonda, Lady Capulet and a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, the Lilac Fairy, the Fairy of Valor and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the pas de trois in Swan Lake, the violin in Symphonie Concertante, leading roles in Airs, Baker's Dozen, Ballet Imperial, Birthday Offering, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, C. to C. (Close to Chuck), Everything Doesn't Happen at Once, In the Upper Room, Jabula, The Leaves Are Fading, Meadow, Petite Mort, Sinfonietta, Les Sylphides, Symphonic Variations, Symphony #9, Symphony in C, Thirteen Diversions, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, Without Words and workwithinwork, and featured roles in Black Tuesday and Gong.
Abrera created the roles of His Memory and His Experiences in HereAfter, the Spanish Dance in Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, His Mistress in Weren't We Fools? and leading roles in Pièce d'Occasion with Herbie Hancock, Pretty Good Year and Seven Sonatas.
Abrera received the Gold Medal at the Royal Academy of Dancing's Adeline Genée Awards in London in 1995.
Ka-Ron Lehman
Former artistic director for the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts dance department. This dedicate educator of forty-eight years received, the Distinguished Teacher Award from the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Has participated in the Area Choreographers Festivals at the Aronoff sharing choreography works such as Heart of a Woman, Helen Keller-The Other Room, and Recurring Dreams, “Within the Garden of Change”; and première “The Periapt” work, for the CBC New Works’ Project. A Board member for the Greater Cincinnati Dance Alliance and recently co-directed the GCDA Dance College Fair held at SCPA. Presently teaching Lehman Modern Technique for the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music Dance Division Majors, the Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet, Claudia Barrett’s BTO. and the School for Creative and Performing Arts at Erich Kunzel Center for Arts Education.
Nancy Raffa
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Raffa received her early training with Madame Gabriella Darvash. In 1980, she became the youngest and first American female to win the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland. The same year, Raffa joined Makarova and Company on Broadway and, at age 16, became a member of the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre. She joined Ballet de Santiago in 1985 as a principal dancer and was also a principal dancer at Ballet National Française de Nancy. In 1992, she became a principal dancer with Miami City Ballet.
Raffa began her teaching career in Miami at the New World School of the Arts. In 1994, she joined the staff of the Miami City Ballet School, becoming the coordinator for the School’s summer intensive program and Ballet for Young People program. Among her many awards, Raffa was twice awarded a special teacher’s recognition from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts and won a grant from the United States Information Services to act as a cultural ambassador and teacher for the company and school in Honduras.
Raffa holds an Ace certification in exercise physiology and graduated magna cum laude in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Thomas University.
Raffa was appointed Ballet Mistress in June 2007.
Raffa began her teaching career in Miami at the New World School of the Arts. In 1994, she joined the staff of the Miami City Ballet School, becoming the coordinator for the School’s summer intensive program and Ballet for Young People program. Among her many awards, Raffa was twice awarded a special teacher’s recognition from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts and won a grant from the United States Information Services to act as a cultural ambassador and teacher for the company and school in Honduras.
Raffa holds an Ace certification in exercise physiology and graduated magna cum laude in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Thomas University.
Raffa was appointed Ballet Mistress in June 2007.
Gennadi Saveliev
Born in Moscow, Russia, Gennadi Saveliev began his ballet studies at the Bolshoi Ballet School at the age of nine. He has studied with such distinguished teachers and coaches as Sergei Berezhnoi, Pyotr Pestov, Mikhail Lavrovsky, Stanley Williams, Eleanor D’Antuono and Cynthia Gregory. At 18, he joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company where his repertoire included the Chinese Doll in The Nutcracker, one of the four cavaliers in Raymonda and the pas de trois in Swan Lake. Saveliev has also danced with the Nevada Dance Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Los Angeles Classical Ballet and the New Jersey Ballet. Saveliev won the silver medal at the 1996 New York International Ballet Competition and was a finalist at the Nagoya Ballet Competition in 1999.
Saveliev joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in January 1996. His repertoire with the company includes roles in La Bayadère, Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Coppélia, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, Diversion of Angels, Don Quixote, The Dream, Christopher Wheeldon’s VIII, Fall River Legend, Flames of Paris, Giselle, Manon, The Merry Widow, The Nutcracker, Offenbach in the Underworld, Onegin, On the Dnieper, Pillar of Fire, Prince Igor, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Sylvia, The Taming of the Shrew, Ballet Imperial, In The Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Les Sylphides, Symphonie Concertante, Theme and Variations and Without Words, as well as roles in Black Tuesday, Clear, HereAfter, Jabula, Overgrown Path, Petite Mort and Symphony in C. He created leading roles in Rabbit and Rogue and Seven Sonatas.
Saveliev is a member of “Angel Corella and Friends” and “Stiefel and Stars” touring companies and is also the founder and artistic director of Youth America Grand Prix, America’s first student ballet scholarship competition. Saveliev was promoted to soloist with American Ballet Theatre in August 2002.
Saveliev joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in January 1996. His repertoire with the company includes roles in La Bayadère, Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Coppélia, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, Diversion of Angels, Don Quixote, The Dream, Christopher Wheeldon’s VIII, Fall River Legend, Flames of Paris, Giselle, Manon, The Merry Widow, The Nutcracker, Offenbach in the Underworld, Onegin, On the Dnieper, Pillar of Fire, Prince Igor, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Sylvia, The Taming of the Shrew, Ballet Imperial, In The Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Les Sylphides, Symphonie Concertante, Theme and Variations and Without Words, as well as roles in Black Tuesday, Clear, HereAfter, Jabula, Overgrown Path, Petite Mort and Symphony in C. He created leading roles in Rabbit and Rogue and Seven Sonatas.
Saveliev is a member of “Angel Corella and Friends” and “Stiefel and Stars” touring companies and is also the founder and artistic director of Youth America Grand Prix, America’s first student ballet scholarship competition. Saveliev was promoted to soloist with American Ballet Theatre in August 2002.
