{{short description|Canadian ballet dancer}} {{Infobox dancer | name = Frances Chung | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|17|2001}} | birth_place = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|deathyear|mm|dd|birthyear|mm|dd}} --> | death_place = | residence = | nationality = | citizenship = | education = | occupation = Ballet dancer | years_active = 2001-present | home_town = | height = | spouse = | partner = | children = 2 | website = <!-- {{URL|website}} --> | current_group = San Francisco Ballet | former_groups = | dances = Ballet | module = }}

'''Frances Chung''' is a Canadian ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer at the San Francisco Ballet.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfballet.org/artist/frances-chung/|title=Frances Chung|website=San Francisco Ballet|access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref>

==Early life== Chung was born in Vancouver and is of Chinese descent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://charactermedia.com/frances-chung-living-the-cinderella-dream-literally/|title=Frances Chung: Living The Cinderella Dream, Literally|first=Audrey|last=Magazine|date=December 23, 2013}}</ref> Her father worked for an electronic company, her mother was a cook, and her sister works in finance.<ref name=z>{{cite web|url=https://www.zarely.co/pages/frances-chung|title=Frances Chung|website=Zarely|access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref> She started ballet and playing the piano when she was five, at a community centre near her home. She attended Magee Secondary School and trained at Goh Ballet Academy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@mooseloungeprograms/i-miss-my-mom-s-cooking-catching-up-with-frances-chung-f0c718fc0808|title="I miss my Mom's cooking": Catching up with…Frances Chung|date=13 April 2016}}</ref> Though most of Chung's teachers are Chinese, she was trained in multiple dance styles, such as French, Russian and English. She also did contemporary, jazz, and Asian dance.<ref name=z/> However, she did not have any American training. When she was 16, she attended a summer intensives at Boston Ballet, she was then asked to join the studio company, but her mother insisted she graduate high school.<ref name=fjord>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjordreview.com/focus-frances-chung/|title=Focus on Frances Chung|website=Fjord Review|access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref>

==Career== In 2001, after she finished high school, Chung joined the San Francisco Ballet, at the age of 17.<ref name=z/> Chung stated that part of the reason she joined the company was because she wanted to stay on the west coast.<ref name=fjord/> She was named soloist in 2005 and principal dancer in 2009. Chung has danced roles such as Odette/Odile in ''Swan Lake'', Princess Aurora in ''The Sleeping Beauty'' and the title role in ''Cinderella''. She has participated in San Francisco Ballet's co-production with other companies, such as a stepsister in ''Cinderella'' with Dutch National Ballet and Elizabeth Lavenza in ''Frankenstein'' with The Royal Ballet.<ref name=pod/><ref name=z/> She has also originated roles such as in Stanton Welch's ''Bespoke'' and Dwight Rhoden's&nbsp;''LET'S BEGIN AT THE END''.

Outside of San Francisco Ballet, Chung has danced in galas in Canada, United States, Mexico, Germany, Australia, France and Italy. In 2018, she danced in Welch's ''Swan Lake'', with Houston Ballet.<ref name=bio/>

==Selected repertoire== Chung's repertoire with the San Francisco Ballet includes:<ref name=bio/> {{columns-list|colwidth=20em| *''Agon'' (pas de trois) *''Anima Animus'' *''Ballo della Regina'' *''La Bayadère'', Act II (Nikiya and 3rd Solo Shade in “The Kingdom of the Shades”) *''Le Carnaval des Animaux'' (Turtle) *''Chroma'' *''Cinderella'' (Cinderella and Stepsister Clementine) *''Coppélia'' (Swanilda) *''Dances at a Gathering'' (Yellow) *''Don Quixote'' (Kitri, Kitri's Friends, and Queen of the Driads) *''Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes'' *''Frankenstein'' (Elizabeth Lavenza) *''Giselle'' (Giselle, Myrtha, Peasant pas de cinq, and Solo Wili) *Emeralds & Rubies from ''Jewels'' *''The Nutcracker'' (Queen of the Snow, Snowflakes, Sugar Plum Fairy, Spanish, Flowers, and Grand Pas de Deux Ballerina) *''Paquita'' (demi-soloist and pas de trois) *''Raymonda'' Act III (Raymonda) *''Romeo & Juliet'' (Acrobats) *''Rush'' *''Serenade'' (Russian Girl and Angel) *''Piano Concerto #1'' in ''Shostakovich Trilogy'' *''Sandpaper Ballet'' *''The Sleeping Beauty'' (Aurora, pas de six, and Enchanted Princess/Bluebird pas de deux) *''Swan Lake'' (Odette/Odile, Neapolitan, Act I pas de trois, Russian Princess, and Czardas) *''Sylvia'' *''Symphony in C'' *''Symphonic Variations'' *''Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux'' *''Theme and Variations'' *''Within the Golden Hour''

===Originated roles=== *''Bespoke'' *''Borealis'' *''Borderlands'' *''Fearful Symmetries'' *''Hummingbird'' *''In the Countenance of Kings''&nbsp;(Electress) *''LET’S BEGIN AT THE END'' *''Naked'' *''Pas/Parts 2016'' *''The Ruins Proclaim the Building Was Beautiful'' *''Thread'' *''Underskin'' }}

==Awards== *Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance (Individual) for San Francisco Ballet's 2013 Repertory Season. *Finalist at the Helsinki International Competition, 2001. *Awarded silver medal (no gold medal awarded) at the Adeline Genée Awards, London, 2000. *Finalist and prizewinner at the Prix de Lausanne, 2000. *3rd place with partner Nozomi Haga at the Japan National Pas de Deux Competition, 1999.

==Personal life== Chung is married. The couple welcomed a son, Forest Tan, in 2019.<ref name=pod>{{cite web|url=https://sfballet.blog/2020/frances-chung-principal-dancer-on-cinderella/|title=Principal Dancer Frances Chung discusses Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella.|website=San Francisco Ballet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=💚Forest Tan Flaherty💚 Likes: mama's milk, baths, burps, long walks Dislikes: being too cold, being too hot, being hungry, and soggy diapers Status: single and ready to mingle. |url=https://www.instagram.com/franadian/p/B14IY01AK1W/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref> They welcomed they second child, a daughter, Faye Ella in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faye Ella Flaherty • born January 25, 2023 • little fairy full of faith and a fighting spirit |url=https://www.instagram.com/franadian/reel/CrrXiaHAmqP/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.sfballet.org/artist/frances-chung/ Frances Chung] - San Francisco Ballet profile *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LTOrgRDvsI Frances Chung: Artist Spotlight] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i429pfW1a94 Frances Chung on ''The Nutcracker''] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG4jv4_L_i8 Frances Chung in ''LET'S BEGIN AT THE END'']

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Frances}} Category:1980s births Category:Living people Category:Canadian ballerinas Category:San Francisco Ballet principal dancers Category:People from Vancouver Category:21st-century Canadian ballet dancers Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent