Born in Hong Kong, Cheng Hei Lam Michelle trained at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and graduated from Australian Conservatoire of Ballet in Melbourne. She joined Hong Kong Ballet as an Apprentice in 2017 and became a Corps de Ballet member in 2022.

Cheng has danced in John Meehan’s Swan Lake, Septime Webre and Charla Genn’s Giselle, Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote, Anna-Marie Holmes' Le Corsaire, Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), Peter Pan and The Great Gatsby, Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux, Yuri Ng’s Ballet Classics for Children: Swan Lake and Yuh Egami and Hu Song Wei Ricky’s The Rite of Spring. She also performed Yuri Ng’s The Sleeping Princess in Hong Kong Ballet Group's 50^th Anniversary Performance, Verdi’s Rigoletto with Musica Viva and phase 7’s Nobody but a princess.

Dancer Q&A

1. What does ballet mean to you?
Ballet to me is an art form to express my emotions and feelings, and a mixture of music and drama/story as well as movement.

2. Why did you start dancing?
I started dancing because I love ballet music, the feeling of freedom, maintaining good posture and staying fit. I love the feeling of stretching my muscles as well as discovering the possibilities of my body.

3. What’s the most challenging ballet you have danced, and what made it so challenging?
The Rite of Spring because the beats were so hard to count and remember.

4. How do you unwind after a show?
First, I treat myself to food that I wish to eat at that moment. Then, I take a long shower or bath to soften my muscles. After that, I do some stretching with breathing sequences for deeper muscle release while watching television and preparing for the next day.

5. What are your hobbies?
I love doing yoga and Gyrotonic exercises, and to relax, I love going for massages, foot steaming and watching movies!

6. What is the coolest thing about being a dancer?
“There's no best, only better!"
My life is entirely surrounded by things related to dance, such as body and foot massages, steaming my feet (for muscle release and recovery) and yoga and Gyrotonic classes to maintain and strengthen my body to find myself, know myself better, and also learn how to take care my body.

7. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
If I could have a superpower, I would never forget anything, eat all I want and never gain weight, and my body would never get tired.

8. Who are your favorrite dancers who have inspired you?
Marianela Nuñez
Alina Cojocaru
Lauren Cuthbestson
Iana Salenko
Svetlana Zakhorova
Evgenia Obratsova