On Technique

9. Finis Jhung

77 Finis Jhung “. . . everyone has potential . . .” Finis Jhung performed with the Harkness Ballet and is currently a master teacher in New York City. I was born and raised in Hawaii and am of Korean-Scottish-English descent . I started dancing at the age of six, as I liked the wonderful old black-and-white Hollywood musicals that we used to see and decided that was what I wanted to do. I began at a neighborhood school, but never learned a proper barre that I can recall. The only real ballets I ever saw were performed by the Markova/Dolin and Slavenska/Franklin troupes. I remember Dolin doing an adagio solo, Hymn to the Sun. I also learned the hula, which equipped me to dance in public, ranging from dancing the hula at a store opening on Waikiki Beach, to almost falling off the stage when the lights went out at a beauty pageant where I did a pas de trois to Invitation to the Dance, to dancing both the hula and Finis Jhung. Photo by Andrew Terze. 78 On Technique a ballet solo at nightclub parties. At home, by myself, I’d put on Swan Lake and dance around the house for hours. I quit ballet in junior high because of peer pressure, but started back again in high school—just a 45–minute class that was once a week—and began with hopping across the floor holding my leg up in second position and then dancing duets that included a little bit of everything. The experience was frustrating, as I couldn’t really talk to anybody about my dancing (for fear of being teased) and the training was limited. By my junior year in high school, I knew that I wanted to go to the mainland, and in order to do so, I had to find a university that offered ballet and financial aid. I had never done a full class up to this point. I got a small scholarship ($160) from the Exchange Club in Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah’s ballet program. What a gift this program was for me—I got to see and take class with Michael Smuin and Kent Stowell. I wasn’t good enough to be in the Nutcracker, and I can still remember sitting in the audience eating my heart out. But within a few months, I was performing. Because we were financially strapped, I was forced to stay in Utah and didn’t see my mom for three years. However, these were the most wonderful years. The combination of academics and ballet and performing was heaven for me. Mr. C (Willam Christensen) and Barbara Barrie (she was English) were my teachers. Each summer we danced in an opera and a musical. Michael Smuin and I took a 7:00 a.m. ballet class with Miss Barrie , and then earned money by painting university buildings in the hot Utah sun. I loved Mr. C—he was great for men—always had such great gusto and charisma. I auditioned for Los Angeles Ballet at the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park and didn’t get in, but I got to meet Eddie Villella for the first time. After graduating with a BFA, I went into the National Guard and became a PT demonstrator. I ended up in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (Little Korea), as a clerk/typist. I was the fastest they’d ever had. While there, I received a telegram from Rodgers and Hammerstein because they needed an Asian dancer who could do double tours in Flower Drum Song on Broadway. I quickly got in shape, flew to NYC for a weekend audition, got the job, and returned to the army to complete a few more months of service. The day I was out of the army, I flew back to NYC. I learned the Finis Jhung 79 dance on Saturday and was put into the show the following Monday. The show ran from February through May and then went on the road. When the show played San Francisco, I was reunited with Smuin and Stowell, who were dancing with the San Francisco Ballet. I auditioned for the company, was hired, and went right into Lew Christensen’s Nutcracker . I stayed at SFB for a year and a half. At first, dancing there was difficult due to changes I had made with my technique and dancing. I...