In May 2017, Chun Wai Chan became the first Chinese principal dancer, or on the highest level, in City Ballet’s 74-year history, only the fourth Asian to hold that rank.
When Chan was young, his parents made him have swimming lessons; they wanted him to become an Olympic swimmer. But he had other ideas in mind after he went with his sister to dance lessons. When he was six years old, he started his own dance studies and was one of the only boys in his class. His parents did not approve of this and supported and encouraged him to be a lawyer, doctor, or accountant instead of a dancer. At twelve years old, he wrote a letter to his parents telling them about how much he wanted to study and learn dancing and his parents agreed to send him to a boarding school for performing arts in a city called Guazhuan, which was about ninety miles away.
Chan was eighteen when he was a finalist at the 2010 Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and he won a scholarship to study at Houston Ballet. He went there two years later, and that’s where he became a principal dancer. He also gathered a reputation as a sensitive dancer, and he worked with Justin Peck, the resident choreographer for the Houston Ballet. Chan and Peck choreographed “Reflections” for Houston Ballet.
In 2020, he was invited to go to class at City Ballet and was offered to be a soloist, beginning the fall. But he couldn’t go because of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and Houston Ballet had to cancel lots of shows. Chan started teaching online classes and recorded dance videos with friends. But despite his dance classes, he was eager to perform again in front of a live audience, so he went back to China, where Covid-19 was not as serious as in the US. He joined the second season of “Dance Smash,” where he performed beautifully. Then he went to New York, where he hoped he could bring some of the ballet he learned in China. He thinks that ballet there is lacking.
“I used to think I danced just for myself,” Chan said. “Now I’m dancing for my family, for the audience, for the whole dance community.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/arts/dance/chun-wai-chan-new-york-city-ballet.html
When Chan was young, his parents made him have swimming lessons; they wanted him to become an Olympic swimmer. But he had other ideas in mind after he went with his sister to dance lessons. When he was six years old, he started his own dance studies and was one of the only boys in his class. His parents did not approve of this and supported and encouraged him to be a lawyer, doctor, or accountant instead of a dancer. At twelve years old, he wrote a letter to his parents telling them about how much he wanted to study and learn dancing and his parents agreed to send him to a boarding school for performing arts in a city called Guazhuan, which was about ninety miles away.
Chan was eighteen when he was a finalist at the 2010 Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and he won a scholarship to study at Houston Ballet. He went there two years later, and that’s where he became a principal dancer. He also gathered a reputation as a sensitive dancer, and he worked with Justin Peck, the resident choreographer for the Houston Ballet. Chan and Peck choreographed “Reflections” for Houston Ballet.
In 2020, he was invited to go to class at City Ballet and was offered to be a soloist, beginning the fall. But he couldn’t go because of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and Houston Ballet had to cancel lots of shows. Chan started teaching online classes and recorded dance videos with friends. But despite his dance classes, he was eager to perform again in front of a live audience, so he went back to China, where Covid-19 was not as serious as in the US. He joined the second season of “Dance Smash,” where he performed beautifully. Then he went to New York, where he hoped he could bring some of the ballet he learned in China. He thinks that ballet there is lacking.
“I used to think I danced just for myself,” Chan said. “Now I’m dancing for my family, for the audience, for the whole dance community.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/arts/dance/chun-wai-chan-new-york-city-ballet.html
