Independent Arts News Reporting Ten Times Better Film Uncovers Lost Story of Asian American Dance Pioneer
Reported on Monday, May 12, 2025.
Pictured Above: While a student at the School of American Ballet, George Lee caught the eye of choreographer George Balanchine, who cast him in the Tea divertissement in his 1954 premiere of The Nutcracker. (Photo by Frederick Melton ©Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts)
NEWSROOM POST: DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
Ten Times Better by Doylestown Filmmaker, Jennifer Lin will screen at the County Theater in Doylestown on May 18 at 1pm, and on May 31 at the Philadelphia Art Museum as part of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.
Doylestown, PA – The first time Doylestown filmmaker Jennifer Lin contacted George Lee, an 88-year-old blackjack dealer in Las Vegas, he was puzzled. “Why are you looking for me?” he asked. “I’m nobody.”
But Lin knew that Lee was somebody, and he became the focus of her award-winning short documentary, Ten Times Better. Seven decades ago, Lee was a teenage refugee from China when the great choreographer George Balanchine cast him in the New York City Ballet’s 1954 premiere of The Nutcracker. He went on to dance on Broadway, performing in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s hit Flower Drum Song.
Pictured Above: In Las Vegas, George Lee shares his portfolio of dance photos and memorabilia with director Jennifer Lin as Paul Van Haute, director of photography, captures the moment. (Photo by Pentalina Productions)
Ten Times Better will screen at 1 p.m. on May 18 at the County Theater in Doylestown, and at 1 p.m. on May 31 at the Philadelphia Art Museum as part of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. In addition, the film is now streaming on PBS’s American Masters Shorts platform.
“May is Asian American and Pacific Islander month, so it’s appropriate to celebrate the legacy of George Lee,” Lin says. “He was an Asian American pioneer in dance and this documentary honors his contributions.”
The son of a Polish ballerina and Chinese acrobat, Lee studied ballet in wartime Shanghai in the 1940s. He and his mother spent two years in a refugee camp in the Philippines before settling in New York City. Upon arriving in America, his mother warned Lee that as a Chinese man, he would have to be “ten times better” to succeed in a white society.
Lee’s technique and athleticism earned him a scholarship to the prestigious School of American Ballet, where he caught the eye of Balanchine. Although Lee got rave reviews for his performance of the Tea dance in The Nutcracker, he was told he was too short to join the ballet company. He turned to Broadway, where dancer Gene Kelly was directing his first play and immediately hired Lee. Lee danced for more than 20 years on Broadway and in touring shows.
When he retired from dancing, Lee turned to blackjack dealing and worked in obscurity at the Four Queens Casino for four decades. Lin, a former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and Doylestown resident, was researching another film when she came across photos of Lee from the 1950s and tracked him down in Las Vegas.
Pictured Above: George Lee performs one of his signatures turns in Flower Drum Song. (Photo by Friedman Abeles @New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Ten Times Better premiered in 2024 at Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera film festival. Before the premiere, the New York Public Library held a special event about the making of the film, which attracted an overflow crowd. “Both the artistic director and the executive director of the New York City Ballet, as well as the head of the School of American Ballet, attended the event,” Lin recalls. “As soon as George came onstage, everyone applauded. It was gratifying to see this humble man, who thought he was nobody, finally having his moment at center stage.”
After a lengthy hospital stay, Lee died on April 19 at the age of 90. “I saw him the week before and we talked about his extraordinary journey,” Lin says. “He inspired so many not only for his dancing excellence, but for his optimistic and resilient spirit.”
Pictured Above: As a young dancer, George Lee received a full scholarship to the prestigious School of American Ballet. (Photo from George Lee personal collection).
