In 1977 he performed as Guest Artist with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) joining the company as Principal Dancer in the fall of that year.
During his dancing career her partnered many of the world's leading ballerinas including, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Merrill Ashley, Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Martine Van Hamel, Natalia Makarova, Eva Evdokimova, Karen Kain and the Australian ballet stars Marilyn Rowe and Marilyn Jones.
On television, John performed on the Merv Griffin Show, the 1978 Academy Awards Presentation and in the episode Come Dance with Me on the Love Boat.
In 1997, he became Artistic Director of the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company,[2] training among others, MIsty Copeland, Isabella Boylston, Hee Seo, Michelle Wiles, Ashley Ellis, Yuriko Kajiha, Allison Miller, Erica Cornejo, Herman Cornejo, David Hallberg, Matthew Golding, Tom Forster, Cory Stearns, Roman Zhurbin and Craig Salstein.
He was the artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet between July 2006 to 2009 before joining the faculty of Vassar College as Professor of Dance on the Frances Daly Fergusson Chair in the Humanities.