As the documentary progresses, we hear George Lee reminiscing about what his mother told him when they moved to the United States. "𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢; 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦!” George remembered that throughout his life, and he wrote his astonishing story to find his place in the history of ballet. He became the first Asian to dance for the New York City Ballet, tapped by George Balanchine for his original production of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧. Directed by Jennifer Lin, 𝙏𝙚𝙣 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 tells a moving story about 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐞, a child dance prodigy who grew up poor in Shanghai and cemented an unheralded place in ballet and Broadway history. Born in Hong Kong in 1935, who lived as a refugee fleeing war, George’s life tells the 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺—𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. George created a sensation in George Balanchine’s original staging of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧 exactly 70 years ago! George switched to Broadway and worked with Gene Kelly in Flower Drum Song. After a career in musical theater, George learned to deal blackjack and moved to Las Vegas, where he had been working until very recently. Almost 90 years old, George just retired recently. Filmmaker 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐧 shared her incredible story of finding George and how he has remained a happy and grateful person despite struggles. As it became difficult to contain our tears in the end seeing this tale of talent and perseverance in the face of hardships, we hope and wish that George lives a happy and healthy retired life, and that his extraordinary story reaches more people. We thank the 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐮 for supporting this screening, and a loud applause to the audience who turned out in great numbers! S. Alice Mong Jennifer Lin Sonali Laul Asia Society Hong Kong Center #screening #ballet #immigrant #hongkong #china #nutcracker #theflowerdrum #broadway #performingart #culturaldiversity #artsandculture #events #tentimesbetter
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