Mandy Kwan is dancing down her own path

Every night, Mandy Kwan gingerly steps into a world of masked balls, lavish costumes and dramatic music at His Majesty’s Theatre in London.

Eight times a week, she performs in “The Phantom of the Opera” as part of its 40th anniversary cast, appearing as the Butterfly during the famous “Masquerade” sequence. It is the sort of stage the 21-year-old Malaysian-Hongkonger once could only have imagined.

Even now, though, what stays with her is not always the applause. Sometimes it is the Malaysian audience members waiting at the stage door.

“They always go like, ‘Mandy, sign our thing,’” she said with a laugh. “It’s very nice because obviously they’ve travelled here and then they picked this show to watch.”

When fans tell her they are Malaysian too, something shifts. “It really reminds me of my parents as well and all my friends at home. It just feels very like home. That’s just very familiar.”

For someone who grew up between Hong Kong and Malaysia and left home for Britain at 15, that feeling of familiarity is precious.

Kwan spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong before moving to Malaysia at 11. The oldest of two siblings, Kwan started ballet at four, but competitions made her realise she could imagine a life around dance.

“I liked feeling challenged and meeting people who have the same passion in the competitions,” she said. “And being able to express my feelings on stage, like the lights, taking up the space … I think that’s when I found real passion in it.”

Today, however, she is less interested in being perfect like she once was. Working professionally has changed that. Performing the same show repeatedly, alongside singers, actors and dancers, has shown her that technical ability is only one part of the job.

“I think being a professional performer, you have to be so humble, kind and gracious to people around you and yourself,” she said. “Technique is important, but your character is so much more important.”

It is a lesson that extends beyond the stage. Kwan remembers feeling that she was falling behind when her friends began leaving for university while she remained at ballet school for another year of training.

The feeling was so strong that she considered quitting dance altogether. What kept her going was partly her mother telling her to finish that final year, but also a growing understanding that there was no point measuring her life against someone else’s timeline.

“Sometimes I think dance can get very overwhelming … made me feel like I’m never good enough.” she said.

Her experience at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York, where she became the first Malaysian dancer to reach the finals, remains another reminder of just how far that world can stretch.

“I remember looking back and there’s this huge Malaysian flag,” she recalled. “And it really just hit me … I’m representing my whole country.”

Now, surrounded by an international cast in London, Kwan is thinking beyond ballet too. She wants to sing, act, explore different kinds of musical theatre and eventually write and direct.

And perhaps one day, she wants to bring everything she has learnt home.

For now, she is content to keep learning, performing and widening the definition of her dream.

After all, the girl who once worried about falling behind has discovered that sometimes the most interesting journeys don’t follow the same path as everyone else’s.

“I just think as long as I have been kind to people around me today at work and I have been kind to myself, that’s what’s most important.”

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