Half a century after founding her first ballet school in Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, award-winning ballerina and teacher Jean Wong still goes to the headquarters of her empire in North Point almost every day. Tall, elegant and perfectly coiffed, she inspects her students and keeps a close eye on the operation of her school.
Shy young students, dressed neatly in leotards and tights and with their hair pulled up in sleek buns, appear a little anxious upon seeing Wong. They greet her with a curtsy.
'I still insist that even today, when [students] see me, they must curtsy and boys must bow. Their hair must be neat and their shoes spotless,' says Wong as she sits at a wooden desk piled with documents but also supporting a Apple Mac and with an iPhone plugged into the computer.
Wong (above) says her charges learn more than elegant movement in a ballet studio - it is the dedication and discipline the training demands that matter. 'If they are attending ballet, they must be whole-hearted. They can't say they are not coming in next week. I want a letter from the parents to explain,' she says.
Whatever they go on to do, the results of such training, the manners they must observe and the strict dress code they follow will stay with them.
'They can walk into a job interview with confidence. They don't need to wear designer clothes,' she says.
