Mandy Petty

Mandy began her dance training in the UK, at an early age. At 16, she embarked on a 3-year full-time dance course at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, where she received training in ballet, tap and jazz, along with singing and acting, ensuring her a career as a triple threat performer. During her training, Mandy became the first recipient of the Marjorie Davis Star Tap Award (a national competition that is now held annually in the UK) and completed her ISTD teaching qualifications, receiving an award as the most promising teacher. In 1978, Mandy began working professionally, performing in pantomime in her home town, and then internationally, in a small cabaret group which toured South East Asia from 1979 to1981.

When Mandy decided to settle in Hong Kong in 1981, she immediately began teaching for a number of local, private studios but it was when she was invited to teach tap at the newly formed Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, that tap really began to take hold in Hong Kong. In 1995, Mandy became a full-time Lecturer in the Musical Theatre stream of the School of Dance, HKAPA where she taught jazz and tap to most of the performers that you see on stage in Pay It Forward.

Over the years, Mandy has choreographed for many dance concerts and musicals, both for the Academy and for other local performing groups, but it is the big tap musicals that she loves best, including 42nd Street and Crazy for You. In order for any art form to remain current, it is important that we acknowledge our roots but then add a little of our own creative flair. Seeing one’s work being developed and shared with future generations, is the greatest compliment any teacher could receive, so Mandy is honoured and humbled to be invited to share the stage with her former students. She would like to thank R & T for their dedication to the world of tap dance and for ensuring that Mandy’s legacy continues in Hong Kong.

Mandy Petty participates in this production by kind permission of the HKAPA.