People who didn't know they could dance were stomping, clapping, stepping and whooping it up Wednesday with former New York City Ballet dancer Jacques d'Amboise at Keene State College.

D'Amboise, founder of the National Dance Institute- and later, the N.H. Dance Institute, based in Marlborough- has hung up his ballet slippers and put on his hiking boots. He is hiking the Appalachian Trail to raise money for arts education.

D'Amboise said he believes arts education in the United States is lacking.

"The syndrome is that whenever a school doesn't have any money, they take out an arts program," he said. "Arts should be in every school. Dance is the easiest art to teach children, but you need a trained teacher."

He plans to use the money he earns on his trek to help provide schools with adequate arts education by training teachers at the National Dance Institute.

Along his 2,160-mile hike, d'Amboise is stopping at 28 locations, including Keene, to teach children and adults alike his signature "Trail Dance."

Wednesday, 300 people filed into Keene State College's Young Student Center to meet d'Amboise and learn his dance.

The 65-year-old professional dancer began his career in New York, evident by his accent, teaching dance on the streets, at the age of 9, to fellow gang members. He dropped out of high school at 15 to become a dancer, but since then has learned to speak more than 20 languages and served as a dean at the State University of New York.

D'Amboise entered the room wearing a bright red shirt with NDI printed across it, baggy pants and hiking boots. The clumpy boots are very different from what d'Amboise is used to dancing in, but for this simple jig, he said, they'd do fine.

"I had to think of a dance that was challenging enough for a nondancer, so senior citizens, children, and everybody could do it, but not too easy," d'Amboise told the crowd before teaching the dance.

To help d'Amboise, 20 children from the N.H. Dance Institute jumped on stage. These children are on what's called the SWAT Team (Spirited Willing and Talented), and are the more experienced dancers at the N.H. Dance Institute. They stood out from the others in the room in their bright red Converse sneakers.

At the start of the program, d'Amboise taught the SWAT team a quick, but difficult-looking, series of steps. He then put some of the children on the spot, asking them to perform the steps for the audience. When one dancer wasn't stomping hard enough, d'Amboise created a little imagery to inspire him.

"Now behind you is the worst, miserable, poisonous toads that you ever saw on the Appalachian Trail, now kill the little rat!" d'Amboise yelled, as he stomped hard.

The team members picked up the dance right away, with one girl, Katie Rolph, 14, of Francestown, performing the dance flawlessly for the excited crowd.

After the performance, Katie said she wasn't at all nervous.

"I never get nervous," she said. "This whole program really builds your confidence."

Once d'Amboise demonstrated how well the SWAT Team can pick up steps, he launched into the "Trail Dance."

The dance was split into three parts: the apple, the pineapple and the banana.

"The one thing you miss most when you're hiking is fresh fruit," he explained.

D'Amboise said he chose to call two of the dance segments the pineapple and the banana because they are tropical fruits, and he is hiking southward to Georgia, towards the tropics.

"I chose apple because this is a Johnny Appleseed trip, where you go and plant seeds for arts education," he said.

Once the SWAT dancers had learned the "Trail Dance", they jumped off the stage and helped d'Amboise teach it to the crowd.

People laughed heartily at themselves as they stepped in unison, hooked elbows with neighbors and swung around each other then jumped, landing with a loud thud. The dance's song, "Youpe, Youpe," written by d'Amboise, was playing softly, as background music to the synchronized pounding of feet on the wooden floor.

Before the dance began, d'Amboise asked everyone in the room to promise to teach the dance to at least two other people in the room so millions of people will learn it eventually.

Besides the SWAT team, many other children and parents affiliated with the N.H. Dance Institute attended the event, including some alumni. It was also open to the public.

Jared R. Hutchins of Marlborough, who just graduated from Keene High School, was on the SWAT team many years ago, but came back to cheer it on and support d'Amboise. He even dug out his old red Converses.

"I've had these since 8th grade," he said as he pointed to the tight-fitting ratty sneakers on his feet.

D'Amboise said hiking the Appalachian Trail has been a dream of his since he was 12, but when he became a professional dancer at 15, hiking was out for him.

"Once I started dancing, forget it, nothing but ballet," he said.

Not long ago an anonymous woman gave d'Amboise a large chunk of money. "'Here, Jacques', she said, 'it's your dream money, use it for your dreams,'" he said.

When d'Amboise thought about his dream he knew what it had always been: to hike the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. He also wanted to see the National Dance Institute's programs all over the country. So, he decided to combine the dreams and form a program called Step by Step.

Step by Step is the name of d'Amboise's journey; it is also his trail name. He said he chose the name because the only way to get through an adventure is one step at a time.

His "Trail Dance" was inspired by the rigors of the Step by Step journey.

"I wanted to do a dance that would express the journey, which is climbing mountain after mountain and every time you finish, there's another one," he said.

D'Amboise had originally planned to go it alone, but his son George decided to join him on his expedition.

"Now I can't imagine it without George," he said. "I'd be lonely, so lonely."

To save weight in their packs, which already weigh 30 to 40 pounds, d'Amboise and his son are not sleeping in tents, but rather in lean-tos along the trail. They devised a plan for eating, as well. They eat light foods, such as a piece of cheese, or a Pop Tart for three or four days, then they go into town and stay at a hotel for the night.

"We hitchhike a ride into town to a hotel, get clean, do our laundry and then pig out," he said.

D'Amboise has already lost 20 pounds since he began, but has begun taking vitamin supplements to keep his strength up. The thin man is covered in black fly bites and has red marks on his shoulders where his pack straps lie. Despite the hardships, d'Amboise said hiking, like dancing, makes him feel energetic.

"I can dance, but I can hardly get up and walk, but when I'm out on the trail, I can do 10 miles, even when tired," he said. D'Amboise said that as he moves farther along the trail, he gains more and more energy and just the other day he did his maximum, 10 miles, in five hours.

Step by Step has a Web site that will contain up-to-date information and puzzles and games about the Appalachian Trail for classrooms to use.

For schoolchildren to follow d'Amboise's trip on the Internet, he decided to start the trail in May, rather than February or March, which is when most people start. He did this so schools would be just starting when he is in the middle of his trip, which is in September. If he had started in Georgia, in May, by the time he hit Maine in December it would be too cold, so he is doing the trail backward.

D'Amboise began the 14-state trek in Maine May 29, at the summit of Mount Katahdin, and expects to end in Georgia, at Mount Springer, in December.

D'Amboise isn't sure how much money he will raise, but many people have donated a penny, a nickel or a dollar a mile. One organization is giving a million pennies. Some communities are putting hiking boots out at their local stores and restaurants, asking people to donate spare change. But, d'Amboise said, the major moneymaker will be a video of the "Trail Dance" the National Dance Institute is selling for $29.95.

D'Amboise's journey can be followed on the Internet at www.ndi4all.org.

  

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