DIANA YAU Yuet-hing, a ballroom dancer who represented Hong Kong at international competitions from 1980 to 1999, twirls and lifts an arm gracefully into the air. The lights at her Champion Ballroom Dancing Academy in Causeway Bay, sparkle off her dress as she slows to a stop.
'I started out teaching Japanese at the French International School when I was 20. A friend asked me to take ballroom dancing lessons with her just for fun and I agreed,' she recalls.
The hobby soon became a passion, and within a year, Yau was a qualified teacher. Another year later, she won the 1980 Hong Kong
Latin American Dance Championship. She continued to win the championship and represented Hong Kong at international contests over the next 20 years.
'Training wasn't easy. Even now that I've retired from competing, I spend three intensive weeks in England every year, learning from instructors,' Yau says.
'I'm happy when I dance. It's tiring, of course, but that doesn't matter when I have a target or high standard I want to achieve. Before, training was necessary to maintain my champion position. Now, I need to keep up to teach my students.'
These days, the petite 47-year-old devotes her time to teaching youngsters, tai