Passing on Chinese Dance to Future Generations

Lorita Leung

From her early life in Shanghai and North Korea in the 1950s, through her years in Hong Kong in the 1960s, to her time in Canada where she emigrated to in the 1970s and still resides today, Lorita Leung has embraced a lifelong career in dance. She received ballet training at a young age and later performed Chinese dance in the army song and dance troupe, and brought her knowledge and skills to Hong Kong’s film and TV industries when she moved to the city. During her seven years in Hong Kong, Leung’s career straddled film and TV; she participated in the choreography of more than a dozen musical films, and she worked as the choreographer for Rediffusion Television’s popular variety show. She was also a dance teacher to many actors and film stars. While Hong Kong’s film and TV industries did not afford her the opportunity to live out her ideal life, Leung fulfilled her dreams of promoting Chinese dance in Canada. In the 1970s she established the Lorita Leung Dance Academy in Vancouver, and subsequently launched classes for the Beijing Dance Academy Graded Chinese Dance Examination. Today, Leung runs the school together with her daughter, as she believes that dance as a part of general education is key to dance being passed down to future generations.

Date of interview: 19 October 2016
Location: Lorita Leung Dance Academy in Vancouver
Recorded and noted by: Lam Heyee
Translated by: Nicolette Wong