Goh Ballet's Silver Anniversary Gala

Date: 12 June 2003 at 20.00
Venue
: Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Reviewer: Ross Michael Pink

 

Guest Artists: Evelyn Hart, Peter Boal, Ranquio Du, Chan Hon Goh and Rex Harrington.

 

 

 


Last Thursday, was a special evening of ballet that celebrated the remarkable achievements of Choo Chiat and Lin Yee Goh, who are institutions in the Canada-Asia ballet worlds. After illustrious careers in China as principal dancers, Ms. Lin Yee Goh and Mr. Choo Chiat (Chuck) Goh arrived in Vancouver, infant daughter in tow, to begin a new life in a land of freedom.
Their journey was not an easy one. In an earlier interview, Mr. Goh, whose late brother, Choo San Goh, was a noted choreographer, confided that he had serious doubts that he and his wife would be able to start a new career in Canada in the dance world. Like the acorn that sleeps in the mighty Oak tree, the Gohs had a humble beginning in Vancouver. In 1978, they started a one room dance school in Vancouver with the help of Soo Nee Lee, who sponsored their immigration to Canada.
Yet talent, creative vision, faith and tremendous support from the dance community propelled the Gohs forward. When the Gohs hosted a gala evening of dance at the QE Theatre, it was a celebration of 25 years of magnificent dance teaching and performance
.

Moreover, the Gohs only child, daughter Chan Goh, who trained at the Goh Ballet School, joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1988. She has since become one of the leading ballerinas in the world, celebrated for her grace and ethereal style that has captivated audiences in America, Canada, Europe and Asia.

 

 

 

 

 


Alumni of the Goh Ballet Academy have joined ballet companies around the world. The dance program at the QE Theatre featured varied works of classical and modern dance.
Highlights for the sellout crowd included: SERENADE, choreography by Balanchine, music by Tchaikovsky that featured an ensemble cast of dancers.
RUBIES, choreography also by Balanchine, music by Stravinsky, that featured the beautiful dancing of Brianne Bland and Runqiao Du, from the Washington Ballet.
CHACONNE, choreography by Balanchine and music by C.W.Gluck that featured magnificent and powerful dancing by Chan Hon Goh and Peter Boal.
EARTH/RIVER, choreography by Choo Chiat Goh, music by John Corigliano that presented the dancing talent of an ensemble cast of talented and expressive dancers.
In a final note, the Lin Yee and Choo Chiat Goh deserve praise for elevating the ballet performance and teaching community in Canada. Moreover, they have illuminated and manifested a beautiful dream that represents the finest of ballet.
It has been said that the world owes much to dreamers, and so it is that the Canadian ballet world owes much to the Gohs for their creative dreams
.

© 2003, R M Pink


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