Chun Wai Chan
New York City Ballet principal dancer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chun Wai Chan is a principal ballet dancer with New York City Ballet.[2] Chan is a former principal dancer with Houston Ballet.[2][3]
Houston Ballet Academy 2010-2012
Chun Wai Chan
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 1992 (age 33–34) |
| Education | Guangzhou Art School 2004-2010, Houston Ballet Academy 2010-2012 |
| Occupation | Ballet dancer |
| Years active | 2012 - present |
| Career | |
| Current group | New York City Ballet |
| Former groups | Houston Ballet |
| Chun Wai Chan | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 陳鎮威 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈镇威[1] | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Early life and education
Chun Wai Chan was born in Huizhou, Guangdong Province,[4] China. He began taking ballet classes at age six[4] and continued his ballet education at Guangzhou Art School from 2004 to 2010. Chan was a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne 2010. As a finalist, he earned a full scholarship to study at Houston Ballet Academy from 2010 to 2012.[2]
Career
Chan joined Houston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2012. He was promoted to principal dancer with Houston Ballet in 2017.[2][5]
In 2020, he was a competitor on the television program Dance Smash;[6] he was eliminated after making it to the final four dancers in the competition.[4]
Chan received an introduction to New York City Ballet following a collaboration with choreographer Justin Peck, himself a former NYCB dancer.[5][7] Chan joined the company as a soloist in August 2021.[2][8] He was promoted to principal dancer with New York City Ballet on May 20, 2022, becoming the first Chinese principal at the company. [2][5]
Personal life
Chan resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.[9]