The youngest of three sons, born to Caroline and Walter Jhung, Finis' parents ran a tailor shop on Oahu's Hickam Air Force Base.

While stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Jhung received a telegram from Rodgers and Hammerstein telling him they needed an Asian dancer who could perform double tours en l'air for Flower Drum Song on Broadway.

In his memoir, Jhung says he initially served as the troupe's "exotic," while he longed to dance the principal roles in "white tights" (classical) ballets.

Shortly after beginning his new religious practice, he was profiled in Dance Magazine and chosen for a white tights role in Dolin's "Variations for Four."

[5] Jhung danced lead roles in Norman Walker's "Night Song," Brian MacDonald's "Zealous Variations," John Butler's "Sebastian," and George Balanchine's "Minkus Pas de Trois."

To mark a break between his old and new lives, he burned his ballet memorabilia, books, photos, and films he had made of favorite dancers such as Erik Bruhn.

He spent his evenings leading Buddhist group meetings, conducting lessons for new converts and providing one-on-one guidance.

[7] In June 1981, Jhung was approached by Stephen Belth, director of the Arts and Science Development Service, Inc. with the idea of forming an eight-member touring company, four men and four women, performing the works of world-class choreographers.

The first four ballets in the repertory were John Butler's "Othello," Vicente Nebrada's "Lento, a Tempo e Appassionato," Toer Van Shayk's "Jeux" and Lois Bewley's "Russian Blue."

One critic hailed the performance as "glowing and spirited...The dancers are young and vigorous, and communicate to the audience their love of dance.

"[5] In June 1986, upon the resignation of Chamber Ballet USA's Board of Trustees President, the company finished its bookings and then folded.

Unable to resume classes at his former studio, he accepted guest teaching jobs at the Bartholin International Seminar in Copenhagen, before going to work at Richard Ellner's Broadway Dance Center.

[5] Throughout his career, Jhung studied with some of the world's best-regarded ballet teachers: Vera Volkova, Erik Bruhn, Rosella Hightower, Valentina Pereyaslavec, Stanley Williams and Willam Christensen, but the two that had the biggest impact were Joanna Kneeland and David Howard.

[2] The New York Times described Howard's teaching style as "...a kinaesthetic approach, in which dancers were taught to rely less on external feedback from the mirror and more on the minute internal signals that telegraph the position of the head, limbs and torso in space.

She thought that teachers who had not been professional ballet dancers, but ran successful studios, would benefit from videos that emphasized solid technique.

The book also "concentrates on the essentials for absolute and advanced beginners - of any age and body type - with an eye toward organic movement logic.

"[10] In 2008, the children's casting director for "Billy Elliot: The Musical" asked Jhung to teach the call-back classes for the original Broadway production.

In addition to teaching at the call-backs, he taught regular classes for "Billys" of the original Broadway production and both national touring companies.