The music starts, the curtain goes up. On stage there are hundreds of little girls in colourful costumes standing stock-still gawking at the audience.
'Come my little darlings, dance for me! Dance for all the nice people sitting out here in the audience! We love you!' Jean Wong, founder and director of the Jean M. Wong School of Ballet, encourages her flock of fledgling dancers, explaining to the audience at the same time: 'This is their first time on stage. Most of them are five and six years old.' It is the dress rehearsal for the Hong Kong International Summer Dance School's Stars of Tomorrow performance, and the beginners are going through The Lonely Goatherd, from The Sound of Music for the first time. After they get over their jitters the piece goes smoothly, drawing loud applause from their teachers and Ms Wong.
This is the sixth annual Summer Dance School and today the curtain goes up on the fruits of their labours at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
More than 120 local and 30 overseas students have undergone four weeks of intensive training in ballet, jazz, modern and character dance under the guidance of seven guest teachers from around the world.
During the past month the students have eaten, slept and dreamt dance. But they have not complained. As one student put it: 'I feel so lucky that I was picked to attend this programme there is no way I would ever want to slack off. Besides, tuition is pretty expensive. I wouldn't want to waste it.' That is where the Tsinforn C. Wong Memorial Scholarship helps out. The scholarship, set up by Ms Wong in memory of her father, assists top students who have the talent but lack the finance. The award pays for board and half the tuition of overseas students.
In the dance Paquita, all three soloists - Du Jia-Yin from Liaoning, Liang Fei from Shanghai, and Sarah Naines from the United States - are scholarship holders.
