John Lam (born 1984) is a Vietnamese-American principal dancer with the Boston Ballet.

Early life

Lam's parents are Vietnamese refugees, who settled in

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

city of San Rafael in California and received U.S. citizenship. With the support of the Performing Stars of

Marin Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

, a community center for inner city youth, Lam started dancing at age four. He studied at the Marin Ballet School from 1988 to 2000. When he was 12 or 13 years old, Lam worked under the direction of

Mikko Nissinen Mikko Nissinen (born March 4, 1962) is a Finnish ballet dancer. He has danced with the Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. He is the Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, a position he has held since 2002. Born and raised in Finland, N ...

. After two years, Nissinen moved to Canada, but Lam was too young to follow along. Two years after Nissinen left the Marin Ballet School, Cynthia Lucas, a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, directed Lam to study and receive professional training at

Canada's National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

with financial support from the Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation. Fifteen years later, Nissinen saw Lam perform with the Canada National Ballet School and offered him a job with the Boston Ballet.

Personal life

Lam has a husband and two sons.

Biography

Lam joined the

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. I ...

in 2003 as a dancer with BBII and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2004, second soloist in 2006, soloist in 2008, and principal dancer in 2014. In 2005, Lam competed in the Seoul International Ballet Competition and Helsinki International Ballet Competition. That same year, he received the Princess Grace Fellowship. Lam has also created dance films. He choreographed Boston Ballet's "Dance Is" in support of the

National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

. His dance films, "Movement in Structure" and "SHE/I," have won critical acclaim at international dance film festivals. "SHE/I" was an official selection for the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Bucharest International Dance Film Festival, and Thessaloniki Cinedance International, as well as a pick for the Portland Dance Film Fest. Lam has received positive reviews from ''The Boston Globe'',

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, John American male ballet dancers Boston Ballet soloists Princess Grace Awards winners 1984 births Living people