Ballet for Life: A Pictorial Memoir

For the first time, dance legend Finis Jhung shares his incredible journey from a humble childhood amid the chaos of World War II Hawai’i to an extraordinary career as a dancer on Broadway, in film, and with the Joffrey and Harkness ballet companies and then as the founder of the critically acclaimed Chamber Ballet U.S.A. “Ballet for Life: A Pictorial Memoir” is filled with nearly 300 gorgeous photos—most of them never before published — along with Finis’s own distinctively witty commentary on his personal and professional life and his intimate recounting of the freedom that he gained from his conversion to Buddhism 59 years ago. The memoir also lovingly pays tribute to many of the fascinating dance personalities whom Finis met along the way.

Today at the age of 87, Finis’s story continues as a much-sought-after master ballet teacher and coach, who imparts his own innovative ballet technique to adult ballet beginners in New York City and to dancers everywhere through a library of his own instructional videos.