Jacques d’Amboise: Portrait of a Great American Dancer
VAI DVD 4377, $34.95

A dazzling compilation of previously unissued television appearances taken from Canadian television and the American series The Bell Telephone Hour (1954-1965). D’Amboise dances Stars & Stripes, the Love Duet from The Still Point, the Snow pas de deux from The Nutcracker (all with Melissa Hayden); the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake (with Lupe Serrano); Afternoon of a Faun (with Tanaquil LeClercq); and Apollo (with Diana Adams, Jillana, and Francia Russell). Also includes the first release of the legendary 1954 telecast of Filling Station starring d’Amboise and members of the New York City Ballet. Duration: 84 minutes of performances in addition to a 50-minute interview with d’Amboise. Color/B&W.

Apollo
Apollo : Jacques d’Amboise
Calliope: Jillana; Polymnie: Francia Russell; Terpsichore: Diana Adams
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Choreography: George Balanchine
Orchestre de Radio-Canada
Robert Irving, conductor
L’heure du concert • Radio Canada • March 10, 1960

The Still Point
Love Duet
With Melissa Hayden
Music: Claude Debussy (from String Quartet, Op. 10 — transcription by Frank Black)
Choreography: Todd Bolender
Bell Telephone Hour • March 16, 1962

Afternoon of a Faun
with Tanaquil LeClercq
Music: Claude Debussy
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Orchestre de Radio-Canada
Désiré Defauw, conductor
L’heure du concert • Radio Canada • October 6, 1955

Swan Lake
Black Swan Pas de Deux
with Lupe Serrano
Helen Hayes as Nadezhda von Meck
Farley Granger as Tchaikovsky
Music: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Petipa/Ivanov
Bell Telephone Hour • November 25, 1960

The Nutcracker
" Snow" Pas de Deux
with Melissa Hayden
Music: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Jacques d’Amboise
Bell Telephone Hour • December 19,1965

Filling Station
Mac, Filling Station Attendant: Jacques d’Amboise
Truck Drivers: Robert Barnett, Edward Bigelow
State Trooper: John Mandia
Motorist: Walter Georgov; Motorist’s Wife: Shaun O’Brien
Motorist’s Child: Edith Brozak
Rich Girl: Janet Reed; Rich Boy: Todd Bolender
Gangster: Richard Thomas
Music: Virgil Thomson
Choreography: Lew Christensen
Max Liebman Presents: Sunday in Town • October 10, 1954

Stars and Stripes: Pas de Deux / Finale
with/Melissa Hayden, members of the New York City Ballet
Music: John Philip Sousa, arr. Hershy Kay
Choreography: George Balanchine
Bell Telephone Hour • February 10, 1959

DVD EXTRA

Interview with Jacques d’Amboise
Ernest Gilbert interviews/entrevue Jacques d’Amboise New York City, March 2006