Dance

Professor Ou Lu is one of the most prominent artist and dance educator of his generation.  He is currently  Associate Dean and Head of Ballet of School of Dance, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and Programme Leader of the Academy's BFA Programme.  He teaches Ballet Technique at the Academy.

Trained at the Beijing Dance Academy, Professor Ou was principle dancer with the National Ballet of China, The Royal New Zealand Ballet and guested many notable dance companies, touring around the world.  In 1989, he was honoured with the Special Contribution Awards by the Ministry of Culture, Artist of First Rank of the People's Republic of China.  While dancing for The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Professor Ou has performed all the leading roles of the company’s repertoire and took up the position as Assistant Director in 2000. In 2001, he has been awarded Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in recognition of his services to The Royal New Zealand Ballet by Her Majesty the Queen of England.

In 2003, Professor Ou Lu was invited to return to China to take up the Director of the Ballet Department position at the Beijing Dance Academy and working as a Foreign Expert. During the time, Professor Ou conducted a list of research projects including European Ballet History Study, George Balanchine Ballet Study and Bournonville Seminar. In 2004, Professor Ou staged and produced full-length classical ballet Sleeping Beauty in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Beijing Dance Academy.  In 2009, to celebrate the Academy's 55th anniversary, Professor Ou staged and produced another full-length classical ballet Don Quixote.  In recognition of Professor Ou’s contribution as an outstanding educator, he has been awarded Distinguished Professor by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.

Professor Ou has over thirty years of experience in Ballet teaching and has been training a great number of dancers from secondary dance schools, dance colleges, dance institutions to professional ballet companies, giving master classes and lecturers, including National Ballet of China, The Australian Ballet, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, New Zealand School of Dance, Guangzhou Ballet, Shengyang Conservatory of Music, Beijing Normal University, Shenzhen Arts School and the School of Music and Dance of Guangzhou University.  

Professor Ou is frequently invited to serve as a jury member at different international competitions as well as offering professional advise for academies.  He has been External Academic Reviewer of the HKAPA, and Jury of the Premio Roma International Competition of Contemporary Choreography, the Tanzolymp Asia International Dance Competition and the Asian Grand Prix.