Jamar Goodman

Hartford Ballet
American Ballet Theatre (2000-2003)
Pennsylvania Ballet (2003-2005)

Originally from Waterbury, Connecticut, Jamar Goodman began his dance training when he was eight years old at The School of the Hartford Ballet under a Dance City Youth Scholarship. While studying in the pre-professional program from 1990 to 1998, Mr. Goodman received classical ballet, modern, composition, jazz, and African movement training. Mr. Goodman was concurrently a member of The Hartford Ballet’s Touring Ensemble. Mr. Goodman’s performance credits with The Hartford Ballet included roles in Kirk Peterson’s productions of The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Le Sacre du Printemps, and Amazed in Burning Dreams.

In 1998, Mr. Goodman joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and 2000, joined American Ballet Theatre. While a member of American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Goodman danced roles in Kevin McKenzie’s productions of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote; George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations; Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow; and Harald Lander’s Etudes. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Goodman was a member of the Pennsylvania Ballet where he danced roles in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments and Agon, Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries, and Christopher Wheeldon’s new production of Swan Lake. In 2005 Mr. Goodman left the Pennsylvania Ballet to pursue a career as a freelance guest artist. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Goodman was a dancer with Carnival Cruise Lines. Mr. Goodman was a dancer in the film Center Stage and appeared in the published work The Dancer Book.

Goodman was mentioned in a 1998 New York Times article on ABT’s Studio Company: “Trio Vivace was a polished but somewhat academic new piece choreographed by a former Ballet Theater principal, Leslie Browne. to music by Handel and Vivaldi. The trio gave its two women (Mayo Sugano and Erica Cornejo) a chance to display polished ballerina manners. It also introduced an immensely promising 16-year-old, Jamar Goodman. Trained by Kirk Peterson at the Hartford Ballet school, Mr. Goodman has a streamlined classical technique and control and a hint of windblown abandon that may further distinguish his dancing when he becomes more experienced.”

Sources:

Articles via Ballet Dance website (page no longer active)
Blithely Learning by Doing, The New York Times

Photos:

Photo via the Diablo Ballet Blog
Carnival of the Imagination photo, Diablo Ballet
Celestial Bodies photo, Lois Greenfield
Ocean Trilogy, Spector Dance