National Dance Institute on PBS

PBS News Hour had an interesting segment earlier in the week on Jacques d’Amboise’s National Dance Institure. d’Amboise founded NDI in 1976, which works with New York City school children through weekly classes, short-term residencies, and public performances. NDI currently partners with 31 New York schools and serves 5,000 children each week from K-6 grades, according to the NDI website.

My first balletfocus post covered Jacques at a Bank Street College lecuture demonstration in September 2013. It was a memorable event; The fast moving hour plus presentation featured dances by students in NDI programs; also, a wide ranging discussion by d’Amboise of his storied career at New York City Ballet, thoughts on the power of dance and the arts in fostering child development, and techniques that NDI uses to teach dance to children.

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Jacques d’Amboise at Bank Street College, September 10, 2013. Click for more photos.