Frances Chung is a Canadian

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. She is currently a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

at the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

Early life

Chung was born in Vancouver and is of Chinese descent. Her father worked for an electronic company, her mother was a cook, and her sister works in finance. She started ballet and playing the piano when she was five, at a community centre near her home. She attended

Magee Secondary School Magee Secondary School is a public secondary school on West 49th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of the first public high schools located in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood and is fed by the surrounding elementary schools in ...

and trained at Goh Ballet Academy. Though most of Chung's teachers are Chinese, she was trained in multiple dance styles, such as French, Russian and English. She also did contemporary, jazz, and Asian dance. However, she did not have any American training. When she was 16, she attended a summer intensives at

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

, she was then asked to join the studio company, but her mother insisted she graduate high school.

Career

In 2001, after she finished high school, Chung joined the San Francisco Ballet, at the age of 17. Chung stated that part of the reason she joined the company was because she wanted to stay on the west coast. She was named soloist in 2005 and principal dancer in 2009. Chung has danced roles such as Odette/Odile in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', Princess Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' and the title role in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

''. She has participated in San Francisco Ballet's co-production with other companies, such as a stepsister in ''Cinderella'' with

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet ( Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. Its forerunners were Ballet Der Lage Landen, Ballet of the Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam Ballet, and Netherlands Ballet (Nederl ...

and Elizabeth Lavenza in ''Frankenstein'' with

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

. She has also originated roles such as in

Stanton Welch Stanton De Burgh Welch (born 1969) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He is the artistic director of the Houston Ballet. Early life Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, two prominent Australian dancers. Care ...

's ''Bespoke'' and Dwight Rhoden's ''LET'S BEGIN AT THE END''. Outside of San Francisco Ballet, Chung has danced in galas in Canada, United States, Mexico, Germany, Australia, France and Italy. In 2018, she danced in Welch's ''Swan Lake'', with

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company consists of 59 dancers and produces over 85 performances per year. It is the 5th largest ballet company in the United ...

Selected repertoire

Chung's repertoire with the San Francisco Ballet includes:

Awards

*Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance (Individual) for San Francisco Ballet's 2013 Repertory Season. *Finalist at the Helsinki International Competition, 2001. *Awarded silver medal (no gold medal awarded) at the Adeline Genée Awards, London, 2000. *Finalist and prizewinner at the

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne () is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition ...

, 2000. *3rd place with partner Nozomi Haga at the Japan National Pas de Deux Competition, 1999.

Personal life

Chung is married. The couple welcomed a son, Forest Tan, in 2019. They welcomed they second child, a daughter, Faye Ella in 2023.

References

External links

Frances Chung
- San Francisco Ballet profile
Frances Chung: Artist SpotlightFrances Chung on ''The Nutcracker''Frances Chung in ''LET'S BEGIN AT THE END''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Frances 1980s births Living people Canadian ballerinas San Francisco Ballet principal dancers People from Vancouver Canadian female dancers 21st-century Canadian ballet dancers Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian people of Chinese descent