Our Artistic Director
Chee Shong Soon, is the current teacher at Second Chance Ballet.
He was born in Malaysia and moved to Belfast to pursue a degree in Computer Science at Queen’s University. He graduated in 2004 and is currently working in one of the leading independent energy companies in the all-Ireland market.
Chee Shong was briefly introduced to ballet at 18 years old in Singapore. However, he only began his ballet training in earnest under the guidance of the late Ruth Adams when he joined Second Chance Adult Ballet at 28 years old. A few years later, he began the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Vocational Graded Examination training at the Laura Walker School of Ballet and was trained by Mr Graham Drake at ‘The Dance Studio’ in Bangor.
Chee Shong has performed at the Grand Opera House Belfast as a principal dancer in the New Lyric Operatic Company’s production of the ‘Merry Widow’ in the St Agnes Choral Society’s production of ‘The King and I’ as Simon of Legree, and as Bacchus in the ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’. He has also performed at the Waterfront Hall in the Gala Ball in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Charity.
He has also been coached by Federico Bonelli principal dancer from The Royal Ballet; Nicholas Ziegler and Michal Krčmář the lead principal dancer of the Finnish National Ballet and Dinna Bjørn who is one of the few distinguished Bournonville specialists in the ballet world.
Chee Shong succeeded as the teacher at Second Chance Ballet in 2010. Today, the class continues to attract students of all abilities and ages. Many students also hail from places beyond Northern Ireland, with a number originally from other parts of the UK and others from as far as Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and Poland.
