A new role, a new degree for dancer John Lam

John Lam retired from Boston Ballet and is the founder and artistic director of the new nonprofit Lam Dance Works.

John Lam retired after 20 years as principal dancer at Boston Ballet. He recently earned his master’s in nonprofit management from Northeastern and established Lam Dance Works. Video by Cam Sleeper

John Lam trained for years at elite international dance schools to perform in George Balanchine’s “Rubies” and William Forsythe’s “The Second Detail” with Boston Ballet. 

He turned to Northeastern University to prepare for his latest role: founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Lam Dance Works.

“Northeastern supported me, and they helped me navigate what my needs were,” Lam said. “They saw that I was a working professional, and they saw my fire in obtaining my degrees.”

While performing as principal dancer at Boston Ballet, Lam earned his bachelor’s degree in leadership from Northeastern, participating in a unique partnership launched in 2013 between the university and the dance company. In fact, Lam was in the first cohort of the program, which offers the company’s dancers an opportunity to earn their college degrees while remaining full-time professional dancers. Over the next decade, Lam took classes at Northeastern while starring at the ballet. He excelled as a student and was inducted into the Huntington 100 honor society and received the Compass Award, which recognizes exemplary students.

“I’m not supposed to play favorites, but the Boston Ballet students, they’re some of the best students at the university,” said Michael Boudreau, a senior academic advisor at Northeastern’s College of Professional Studies who served as Lam’s graduate adviser and as a liaison between the university and Boston Ballet. 

Boudreau noted that the ballet students are not only “the best in the world at what they do” as dancers, but are “super humble and appreciative and proud to be Northeastern University students.” 

Even among such an accomplished group, Lam stood out, Boudreau said. 

He described Lam as “very inquisitive,” with “a big type-A personality,” and as someone who was a step ahead in his goals. 

True to form, as Lam approached his May 2024 retirement from the ballet, he had another dream to pursue. Lam wanted to establish a nonprofit dance company combining performance, education and opportunity for the Boston community and its dancers. He decided a Northeastern master’s degree in nonprofit management would give him the foundation to do just that.

“You have Boston Ballet, which is a huge, huge, gigantic organization, and you have these amazing schools that [are located across] Boston, and there should be more offerings,” Lam said. 

Lam also wanted to create a company that he said was “a little different.”

Rather than a company with a preset season featuring an established roster of dancers performing the chestnuts of the ballet repertoire, Lam was committed to bringing established freelance dancers and choreographers together to create contemporary dance in Boston.

“Most of the works I’m doing are mission-based, which means they’ve never been seen anywhere else in the world,” Lam said. “I bring dancers from all over the world, from all different walks of life, to come here to Boston to dance.”

Lam said that this focus provides opportunity for more diverse dancers and voices and expands “the idea of what dance is or should be.” 

“Boston audiences are conditioned in a certain way if they only get one type of art all the time,” Lam said. “So, I’m trying to put dance in a different light.”

Much of Lam’s vision for his new endeavor is inspired by his own story. 

Lam started dancing when someone came into his childcare program in San Rafael, California, and asked if anybody was interested in scholarships to dance classes. His friends raised their hands, so Lam thought he’d also give it a try. But when he found out at his first class that he was the only boy, Lam wanted to quit. A teacher took Lam to a professional show that included male dancers, where Lam said he fell in love with the music, costumes and the opportunity.

“I was a very shy kid who didn’t speak a lot,”  Lam recalled. Movement gave him a language through which to express himself, he said.

Lam now wants to pay it forward. 

His company partnered with Boston Public Schools last November for a free, live lecture and performance to “immerse” students from fourth grade through high school in dance.

“They’re being educated [and] inspired, [they’re] thinking and considering ideas that they may have had, and really learning what a [dance] work is and and how it’s put together,” Lam said. “They’re also seeing different colors and shapes of different dancers where they can be identified and seen, rather than just seeing a show and not really understanding what’s happening.”

A similar event with additional school systems is planned for later this year, Lam said.

Nicolette Aduama, who also worked as a liaison between the ballet company and the university when Lam was a student, said she was not surprised that Lam is starting a dance nonprofit. 

She recalled a conversation when Lam was completing his undergraduate studies about the best way to have an impact on the community. 

“When I saw the announcement for Lam Dance Works – even just the name, and the imagery – it just all represents who John is,” Aduama said.  “He puts it all in, and you know you’re going to get the full him, and it’s going to be his best.”

As an associate professor of dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Lam also provides opportunities for his students to see and be involved in a dance production. 

Lam credited Northeastern with preparing him for his new venture. Through coursework and with supportive professors, Lam was able to investigate and answer such crucial questions as how to promote and sustain a nonprofit, management and marketing, and more.

“Northeastern really helped me understand those concepts in order to make it sustainable and to make a model of it,” Lam said. “You need the artistic side, and you also need the executive side.”

Lam will demonstrate that duality with the production of “Forward: Dance Transformed.” The production by Lam Dance Company features three world premieres and three Boston premieres, one of which includes a performance by Lam.

“I want to create a nonprofit that allows for the community to be part of – and artists to feel that they can be part of – the conversation of making history with me,” Lam said about his new venture. “It’s exciting for me to continue to thread the needle of what it’s like to be an artist, a role that I’ve had thus far, and [Lam Dance Works] presents a new phase of what I’m doing as a founder, leader, educator, innovator.” 

“Forward: Dance Transformed” will be performed at the Emerson Paramount Center in Boston on May 15 and 16. Tickets cost $30 with the promo code: EDUCATE30.