\n<\/p>\n
Lee performed in \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d as a student; he was never invited to join City Ballet. But he clearly excelled in his classes and onstage. For that, he credits his strong foundation of Russian training in China \u2014 and his mother\u2019s exacting standards. He can still see her standing in the studio doorway at the School of American Ballet, observing closely.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was watching the class and then would go home and tell me, \u2018You did this wrong or that wrong, you got to do it this way,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cSo I really worked hard, and I was good.\u201d (His favorite teacher at the school was the demanding Anatole Oboukhoff<\/a>: \u201cHe always wanted more, and that\u2019s why I liked him very much.\u201d)<\/p>\n To make a living Lee turned to musical theater, performing in shows like \u201cBaker Street\u201d on Broadway and the cabaret \u201cCarol Channing With Her 10 Stout-Hearted Men,\u201d which opened in London. He pieced together jobs for more than 20 years, often unsure of what would come next.<\/p>\n He was dancing in a Vegas revue, \u201cAlcazar de Paris,\u201d now in his 40s, when a blackjack dealer friend suggested he go to dealer school. \u201cI can\u2019t dance all my life,\u201d he remembers thinking. He decided to give dealing a try and soon landed a job at the Four Queens. Aside from four years at another casino, he has worked there ever since.<\/p>\n In December 2022, he got a voice mail message from Lin. With her reporting skills and some crucial assists from Yu, she had determined that he lived in Las Vegas. Of the five phone numbers she found for George Lees, four led nowhere; his was the last she tried.<\/p>\n When they finally connected, she put her other project on hold to focus on his story; she and her small creative team had a final cut by November. \u201cGeorge is 88, and I wanted him to be able to enjoy this moment, where people recognize him for his dancing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As he prepares to return to New York, Lee said he felt gratified, most of all, for his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud for her that I didn\u2019t let her down,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes me feel better to look up at her and say: \u2018Look, mother, now you see what\u2019s happening, what you did for me. You gave me all the good foundation, everything. Through you, I\u2019m here now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Lee will take part in a conversation<\/a> at the performing arts library on Feb. 7 (presented by Works & Process) with Jennifer Lin and Arlene Yu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n