Chinese Canadian dance pioneer Lorita Leung dead at 85

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 30, 2025 5:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A solemnisation of beingness was held Saturday for Lorita Leung, who died connected March 5 astatine the property of 85 and was considered a towering fig successful the tract of Chinese creation successful Canada.

Leung's eponymous creation academy was founded successful Vancouver successful 1970, and is present based successful Richmond. Her girl Jessica Jone said it was the archetypal of its benignant successful B.C. and Canada.

The creation teacher was calved successful Shanghai successful 1940, and her girl said her parent ever grew up wanting to dance. She spent clip successful Hong Kong moving arsenic a choreographer for a TV presumption successful the 1960s earlier coming to B.C. to beryllium with her Vancouver-born husband.

Jone, who is present the creation academy's creator director, said it grew from humble beginnings. Her parent began the academy retired of her Chinatown basement portion she was teaching astatine Good Shepherd Church successful Vancouver.

"She truly was the archetypal to bring Chinese creation to our province," Jone told CBC News.

"Now, of course, we're blessed with truthful galore students and antithetic opportunities for Chinese dance, but really, erstwhile she started successful 1970, determination was precise small known astir the creation signifier and the culture."

According to the academy's website, it was the archetypal overseas Chinese creation radical to beryllium invited to execute successful the People's Republic successful 1984, and has had galore performances crossed Canada.

Leung was fixed the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal successful 1992, and was besides recognized by the Vancouver Park Board for her contributions to the arts in 2012.

Jone said implicit 200 radical attended her mother's solemnisation of beingness connected Saturday, galore of whom were students she hadn't seen for decades.

"It was truthful heartwarming to perceive astir however radical were telling maine that she would provender them and, you know, friends telling maine that she had cooked for them erstwhile they were sick oregon they had conscionable had a baby," she said.

"She wasn't conscionable a creation teacher. She truly was a precise humanistic, benignant and large leader."

Jone said her parent mentored her successful creation since she was 2 years old, and immoderate of her fondest memories were of moving with her parent and begetter Norm connected shows crossed Vancouver.

"I retrieve the Kitsilano Showboat being 1 of our large performances each summer," she said.

"Just to person my ma backstage and maine connected signifier and my begetter arsenic MC — it was conscionable an unthinkable mode to turn up, and to stock that arsenic a family."

Jone said her parent died peacefully successful her sleep. She is survived by a grandson and her girl and son-in-law — some of whom present anticipation to transportation connected her bequest astatine the creation academy.