Together now, gently now, laughs Linda Fung Yan-toi, with a slight tone of despair, as 16 students try to perform a series of porte de bras gracefully. 'And we must get down like ladies; lower yourselves gently . . . don't fall'.
The girls, aged 15 to 19, are practising for their upcoming performance of La Bayadere Act II.
'I want to show you the opening. They all come out in a line and it is supposed to be very beautiful,' Ms Fung says good-naturedly.
It is rare that an organisation can survive on sheer passion alone. But such is the case with the Hong Kong Ballet Group, which has practically survived this way for 32 years. It is because of this passion that you will find Ms Fung rehearsing with a group of students on a weekday afternoon, as part of the 25 hours she puts in a week in addition to running her garment business.
Asked exactly what being a co-chairperson of the group entails, the graceful 32-year-old says: 'Oh, teaching, administrative work, fund-raising, slavery.' Joking aside, it is a volunteer role she serves with gusto. Although she has held the position of co-chairperson for two years, her involvement with the non-profit organisation began two decades earlier.
She started out as a member when she was 11, training for three years before taking up an offer to train at the Royal Ballet School in London. Upon her return to the territory, she joined the group as a soloist for three years before taking off again, this time to New York to obtain a bachelor's degree in fine arts, majoring in dance. When she finally settled back in Hong Kong, she pursued fashion design, until she found the pull of the dance world too great and volunteered her services to the group.