John Wey Ling (; born c. 1958) is a Chinese-born American ballet dancer.
Early career
Ling began his training at the Shanghai Ballet School.
In 1980, he and his partner Wang Qifeng (汪齐风) participated in the International Ballet Competition in Japan, where they made history by winning the first gold medal in an international competition for China.
Move to the United States
After participating in the 1982
USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, Ling disappeared for two days, leaving behind his costume and clothing. By the time he turned up again, he had applied for
US permanent residence on the basis of a job offer as a dancer. Some media reports characterized this as a
defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
, though Ling did not apply for
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
.
Ling joined the
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...
as a soloist under the direction of
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...
. While at ABT, Ling danced with
Rudolph Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
,
Joyce Cuoco, Carla Stallings and many more. Ling has appeared as a guest artist with the
National Ballet of Canada
The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...
, the
Hong Kong Ballet, the Hong Kong Dance Company, the Fort Worth City Ballet, the Dallas Ballet, and the National Ballet of Mexico. He has danced the leading roles in all the major classical ballets. In addition, Ling has not only choreographed and staged the classics but has also given master classes around the world.
Ling founded his own school and company, Elite Ballet Theatre, in 2003 in
Temple City, California. His school follows the
Vaganova method under which he was trained in China. His younger daughter Alexandra also studies ballet, and participated in the 2014 USA International Ballet Competition.
References
External links
Elite Ballet TheatreCentre Stage Dance Academy: Meet the Staff
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, John Wey
1950s births
Living people
American male ballet dancers
People's Republic of China emigrants to the United States
Chinese defectors