Heard of Federal Academy of Ballet?

Mention the name Lee Lee Lan, and immediately, the name Federal Academy of Ballet comes to mind, but hardly anyone knows that this 60-year-old accomplished ballerina and principal of a well-established dance school is also a hi-tech, modern grandma, whose latest toys include a DVD recorder and a pocket personal computer.

One of her latest passion is to convert old videos into DVDs, a task that requires a lot of skills and technical know-how. The reason, in her words, is “to preserve the old record for a future generation.”

With her pocket personal computer, which she carries everywhere she goes, she is able to retrieve electronic messages from all over the world or download certain webpages related to the dance world.

“I am constantly in contact with my associates in United Kingdom,” she says. “Without the e-mails these days, it is difficult to keep in touch.”

For Lee Lee Lan, whose name has adorned the many pages of the local and international print media, it is hard to address her by any other names like “Madam Lee”, “Lee Lan” or “Principal Lee”. The three syllables of her name, almost synonymous to an established brand in the world of dancing, must go together.

Unlike most other successful business entrepreneurs, Lee Lee Lan literally danced her way to the top in the business world. “Although I have a business degree, which does help in the way I operate my school, I prefer to be known as an artiste and a cultural person.”

Her secret of success is simple. “I love what I am doing. In fact, I always tell people I have never worked all through my life. I only play. I see my work as a play.”

For her to be where she is today, it takes a lot of hard work and personal interest in the things happening in her school.

“To be successful,” she advises young aspiring entrepreneurs, “you must enjoy what you are doing. You must be single-minded. If you are good in one thing, it is good enough. Do not try to be jack of all trades.”

Little did she realize it that when in 1967, when the Federal Academy of Ballet was set up in Jalan Changgai, Petaling Jaya, it will one day become the country’s most established school of dances, with five branches in Petaling Jaya (Wisma FAB in Section 14), Bangsar, USJ, Pandan Indah and Damansara Utama, and over 1,000 students. Big names like Joseph Gonzales, Ramona Rahman and Alice Voon have graduated from her school.
In 1984, she formed the Kuala Lumpur Dance Theatre, which became the performing arm of the Federal Academy of Ballet. She has led her team of performers to perform in hundreds of concerts in countries like Thailand, Germany, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Sicily, Japan, China, Canada, Indonesia, China, Great Britain, Singapore, the Philippines, Korea, Hawaii and USA.

“The latest performance was in Amsterdam, when we were invited to perform traditional cultural dances during the International Folklore Festival in June last year. From now on, we will be concentrating on producing more shows,” says Lee Lee Lan. “The next major performance will most likely be in Mongolia for the International Festival of Arts.”

To further raise the standards of her performers, she has employed both local and foreign choreographers like Benji Toledo of Washington Ballet, Louise Hawke from New Zealand, Terry Etheridge of Festival Ballet and local talents like Joseph Gonzales, Lynn Abdullah, Tan Pek Khuan and Michelle Lo.

The mother-of-two, 35-year-old Larry Lee and daughter, Samantha Lee, had trained under illustrious guidance of Soo Nee Goh, Blossom Shek and Ethel Foxcroft, still dances at the age of 60, when most people would have taken a slower pace in life. Her grandchildren, Kayra and Kayden, are also following her footsteps.

An old girl of Methodist Girls School in Melaka, Lee Lee Lan continued her A-Levels in Melaka High School and Sultan Abu Bakar Kuantan, before pursuing her Bachelor of Arts (Honours), doing a double majors in History and Economics from the University of Malaya.

For the past 50 years since 1954, she has been training herself in a number of schools, including Soonee Goh School (1954-57), Ethel Foxcroft School (1958), RAD Summer School (1971), Martha Graham School (1975) and London Contemporary Dance (year?).

She obtained her Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) Advanced Teachers Certificate in 1974, her ISTD Imperial Examiner in 1985, her Modern Examiner in 1992 and has been a Tap Associate since 1987.

She is also the Founder President of the Dance Society of Malaysia and holds several awards including the Saitama Choreographic Prize as well as the Avon Woman of Distinction Award and the ISTD International Award.

She was also very active in the World Dance Alliance (Asia Pacific) as its Treasurer, Secretary and Vice President for 12 years.

To further gain her dance experience, she enrolled herself at the Dance Centre Covent Garden, Pineapple Studios in London, Martha Graham School in New York under world-renown dancing instructors such as Maria Fay, Ruth French, Matt Mattox and Molly Molloy. She holds an Advanced Teachers Certificate from the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and has joined the rank an International Examiner of Ballet and Modern Dancing for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in London.

In her office is a book on the biography of “Alec Aquinness: A Celebration” which she is still reading. She enjoys good books. “At one time, I used to love novels. Then, I was delving into self-help books, philosophy and now I am into the biographies. You learn about how people’s life evolved.”

All her work in the last four decades is well preserved. Her major in history must have a lot to do with the way she keeps all the records. Pouring through the folders in her office, she is able to locate hundreds, if not thousands of old newspaper cuttings, which she has collected and painstakingly filed over the years. Someday, I told her, she should just sit down to compile her autobiography. Will she do that?

“Yes, one of my secret dreams is to be a writer,” she quips.


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