Carolyn George (September 6, 1927 – February 10, 2009) was an American

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, and dance instructor.

Life and career

Born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, George was descended from some of the first settlers in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

. She studied at the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...

(SAB) and at the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

's school. She started her professional dance career in 1952 in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musicals and joined

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

(NYCB) on its European tour that year in

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

's ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

''. She rose to the rank of soloist, created roles in Todd Bolender's ''

Souvenirs A souvenir ( French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and trans ...

'',

William Dollar William Dollar (April 20, 1907 – February 28, 1986) was an American dancer, ballet master, choreographer, and teacher. As one of the first American ''danseurs nobles'', he performed with numerous companies, including the Philadelphia Opera Balle ...

's ''

Five Gifts 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

'' and

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

' ''

Fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets (including fanfare trumpets), French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introdu ...

'' and appeared in the 1954 revival of ''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dol ...

'', which Balanchine had choreographed. It was at NYCB that she met her husband Jacques d'Amboise, whom she married on New Years Day, 1956. The couple had four children, including dancers

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

, who is married to Kelly Crandell, and Charlotte, who is married to

Terrence Mann Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American actor and baritone singer. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Lyman in '' Barnum'', The Rum Tum Tugger in ''Cats'', Inspector Javert in ''Les Mi ...

. Until her death George continued to work as a photographer, having begun at NYCB and SAB; her work appears in her son's

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''Leap Year: A Year in the Life of a Dancer''. She died on February 10, 2009, at her Manhattan home from

primary lateral sclerosis Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is a very rare neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness in the voluntary muscles. PLS belongs to a group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases. Motor neuron diseases develop when the ...

, at the age of 81.Carolyn George d'Amboise, Former Dancer Who Helped Inspire Kids With Dance, Has Died
Photographs for the book, by Jacques d'Amboise and Hope Cooke, titled ''Teaching the Magic of Dance'', published by Simon & Schuster.

References

Reviews

by John Martin, January 21, 1953
NY Times
by John Martin, May 7, 1953
NY Times, March 1, 1954

by John Martin, February 18, 1955
Sunday NY Times
by John Martin, October 23, 1955
NY Times
by John Martin, November 10, 1955
NY Times
by John Martin, November 14, 1955
NY Times
by John Martin, November 18, 1955
NY Times, December 14, 1955

by John Martin, March 1, 1956

Articles

Sunday NY Times
by John Martin, August 24, 1958
NY Times obituary
by

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

, February 12, 2009

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Carolyn 1927 births 2009 deaths American ballerinas 20th-century American photographers Deaths from motor neuron disease in New York (state) New York City Ballet soloists Entertainers from Dallas Artists from New York City San Francisco Ballet dancers House of Amboise 20th-century American women photographers 20th-century American ballet dancers