{{Short description|Boston Ballet dancer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL|dateformat=mdy}}

'''John Lam''' (born 1984) is a Vietnamese-American principal dancer with the Boston Ballet.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=John Lam {{!}} Principal Dancer|url=https://www.bostonballet.org/Home/Global/Profiles/Artists/Principal-Dancers/John-Lam.aspx|access-date=August 4, 2021|website=Boston Ballet}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Team Zarely|title=John Lam|url=https://www.zarely.co/pages/john-lam|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Zarely|language=en}}</ref>

== Early life == Lam's parents are Vietnamese refugees,<ref name=":1" /> who settled in Marin County city of San Rafael in California and received U.S. citizenship.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Slayton|first=Jeff|title=Meet John Lam: Principal Dancer, Husband, Father and Proud Gay Man|url=https://www.ladancechronicle.com/meet-john-lam-principal-dancer-husband-father-and-proud-gay-man/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=L.A. Dance Chronicle|date=February 20, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>

With the support of the Performing Stars of Marin, a community center for inner city youth, Lam started dancing at age four.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> He studied at the Marin Ballet School from 1988 to 2000.<ref name=":2" /> When he was 12 or 13 years old, Lam worked under the direction of Mikko Nissinen.<ref name=":2" /> After two years, Nissinen moved to Canada, but Lam was too young to follow along.<ref name=":2" />

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 in Toronto<ref name=":2" /> with financial support from the Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation.<ref name=":0" />

Fifteen years later, Nissinen saw Lam perform with the Canada National Ballet School and offered him a job with the Boston Ballet.

== Ballet career == Lam joined the Boston Ballet 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.<ref name=":0" />

In 2005, Lam competed in the Seoul International Ballet Competition and Helsinki International Ballet Competition, where he placed as a finalist and semifinalist respectively.<ref name=":5">Board of Supervisors of the County of Marin. 6 June 2006.https://www.marincounty.org/userdata/bs/agendas/060606/060606-ca2b-BS-res-RES.pdf</ref> That same year, he received the Princess Grace Fellowship. On June 6, 2006, Lam was commended by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Marin for his personal and professional achievements.<ref name=":5" />

Lam has also created dance films. He choreographed Boston Ballet's "Dance Is" in support of the National Endowment of the Arts. His dance films, "Movement in Structure" and "SHE/I," have won critical acclaim at international dance film festivals.<ref name=":3" /> "SHE/I" was an official selection for the San Francisco Dance Film Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|title=She/I|url=https://sfdancefilmfest.org/festival-films-2020/short/contemporary/she-i/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=San Francisco Dance Film Festival|language=en-US}}</ref> Bucharest International Dance Film Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Schedule|url=http://www.bidff.ro/eng|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Bucharest International Dance Film Festival|language=en-US}}</ref> and Thessaloniki Cinedance International,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Season 3 Official Selection (2020)|url=https://die-wolke.org/tci|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Thessaloniki Cinedance International}}</ref> as well as a pick for the Portland Dance Film Fest.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Picks 2|url=http://portlanddancefilmfest.com/2020-picks-2/|access-date=August 4, 2021|website=Portland Dance Film Fest}}</ref>

Lam has received positive reviews from ''The Boston Globe'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Byrne Globe|first=Terry|date=July 8, 2021|title=The taming of 'The Tempest'|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/08/arts/taming-tempest/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=The Boston Globe|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Aucoin|first=Don|date=July 29, 2021|title=This 'Tempest' was worth the wait|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/29/arts/this-tempest-was-worth-wait/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=The Boston Globe|language=en-US}}</ref>

On May 19, 2024, Lam retired as principal dance dancer at the Boston Ballet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trailblazing ballet dancer John Lam retires after 20 years |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/trailblazing-ballet-dancer-john-lam-retires-after-20-years-211505733606 |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Wade |first=David |date=2024-04-30 |title=Iconic Boston Ballet dancer steps away from company after 2 decades for teaching role - CBS Boston |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-ballet-john-lam-carmen-spring-experience/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> In the fall of 2024, Lam will start a new position at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Dance Division as an associate professor.<ref name=":4" />

== Personal life == Lam has a husband and two sons.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Ford|first=Penelope|date=2019-07-05|title=Movement in Structure|url=https://fjordreview.com/movement-structure-john-lam/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Fjord Review|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, John}} Category:21st-century American ballet dancers Category:American male ballet dancers Category:Boston Ballet principal dancers Category:Boston Ballet soloists Category:American LGBTQ dancers Category:Gay dancers Category:Dancers from California Category:American dancers of Asian descent Category:American LGBTQ people of Asian descent Category:American people of Vietnamese descent Category:People from Marin County, California Category:1984 births Category:Living people