BIODATA
HAN KEE JUAN
Currently the Principal of Singapore Ballet Academy. Han Kee Juan begin teaching in the 1970s and has since trained many generations of dancers including many prize winners in international ballet competitions as well as principals and soloists of internationally renowned companies such as American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Houston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Alberta Ballet and the New National Theatre Tokyo. His most accolated student is David Hallberg, Principal of the American Ballet Theatre and Guest Principal of Bolshoi Ballet and the Australian Ballet. He has directed the Arizona Ballet School, The Washington School of Ballet and was also a faculty member of the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts.
His dance career began in his native Singapore, where he began his training at age ten with Florrie Sinclair and then with Goh Soo Khim. Upon graduation from the Australian Ballet School, he was invited to dance with the Sydney Dance Company, then the Goh Ballet in Canada, where he was also trained by Lin Yee Goh to teach the Russian method. Additionally, he was Principal Dancer with the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre and was a Soloist with the Boston Ballet where he danced most of the principal roles in the classical repertoire, as well as the ballets by Balanchine and modern works by Jose Limon, Mark Morris, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall and Bebe Miller.
Han Kee Juan is frequently invited as a guest teacher and has taught internationally at dance companies and institutes including Singapore Dance Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet, Edmonton Ballet Academy, Sydney Dance Company, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Vail International Summer of Dance festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Milwaukee Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet Academy and the renowned Jackson International Ballet Summer School.
He is also frequently invited to adjudicate at dance competitions worldwide including the Youth American Grand Prix and Asian Grand Prix. Han Kee Juan is also the co-founder of the American Ballet competition.
He was awarded 5 prestigious teaching awards including recipient of The Excellence in Teaching Award at UNCSA. Han Kee Juan was also named best Teacher/Coach at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2000 and 2015, and in 2008 received the Dance Teacher Award for best teacher of the year. Under his Directorship, The Washington School of Ballet was awarded the Best Youth Dance Performance by Washington DC/Metro Dance and also awarded the Outstanding School Award at the Youth America Grand Prix each year in the 6 years of competing. He was on the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine in 2014 with his student David Hallberg and featured as the Teacher of Men including a mention in the Singapore Encyclopaedia.