Newsletter
Fall 2007 :
Fall 2007 Newsletter
Vancouver is well into fall now, with its alternating misty and brisk, sunny days. At the Goh Ballet, we’re already in high gear getting holiday cheer ready to spread across British Columbia (and Oregon and Washington States) with both local and touring productions of The Nutcracker.
But there’s plenty happening before then too, and plenty of news to share as well about Goh Ballet happenings since the Summer newsletter… so let’s get started, shall we?
SUMMER RECAP
With Guest Instructors Nikolay Levitskiy and James Amar (who was also with us in September to start staging our new Nutcracker), the Summer Intensive was one of our best yet, with a wide range of classes and technical and artistic training.
At the end of July we were delighted to learn that, for the second year in a row, a Goh Ballet dancer was awarded the prestigious (and helpful - $10,000) Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant for Classical Ballet. Congratulations Alyssa Stevens!
Alyssa danced the role of Clara in the Alberta Ballet/ Ballet BC productions of The Nutcracker in 2002 and 2003, as well as in the 2006 Goh Ballet production. She also performed in China in 2006 as part of the Goh Ballet’s China tour of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. She has been awarded previous scholarships from the Vancouver Foundation, the Vancouver Ballet Society and the Goh Ballet Vancouver Society, among others. In March she became the 20 th Goh Ballet dancer to receive the Solo Seal Award, the Royal Academy of Dance’s highest examination honour.
Last year’s Hnatyshyn winner was Kostya Keshyshev, who is now dancing with Hong Kong Ballet (though he made a special guest appearance with the Goh Ballet in June, and was here to visit a couple days in October).
THE START OF THE 30 TH SEASON!
As the 2007-2008 Season got started in September, there were a number of special events to put our dancers immediately to work.
While Vancouver awaits its chance to shine in the Olympic spotlight in 2010, Beijing will have its first chance to host the Olympics in 2008 – and the Goh Ballet was there on September 22 nd at the Centre for Performing Arts to contribute to a special celebration of the Olympic connection between Beijing and Vancouver.
We were also happy to have graduate Chan Hon Goh in town at the end of September with the National Ballet of Canada performing the title role in Giselle. 
Karen Kain, Artistic Director of the National Ballet and Chair of theCanada Council of the Arts came to visit the Goh Ballet on September 28 th, while she was in town. She had excited and encouraging words for the Goh Ballet Company and its 3-point mission:
- To foster, sustain and present classical dance excellence in Canada’s smaller communities and to Canada’s youth on a professional scale not possible by other full companies.
- To positively reflect Canada’s artistic and cultural assets to the international community, especially as it relates to the results of quality technical and artistic challenge and training for young dancers.
- To offer a professional career start to young dance artists, providing a 2 to 5-year window into the international life and world of a professional dancer – with exposure to a wide range of repertoire and renowned figures on the national and international scene.
Over 40 dancers from British Columbia, neighbouring provinces, the United States and Asia came on Sunday, September 23 rd to audition for the 9 Company positions and 19 Apprentice positions for the Company’s 2008, 30 th Anniversary season. Stay tuned for the official Member announcement!
The Academy’s General Division classes got off to a great start too, with most of the General Division teachers having been enrolled in the Goh Ballet summer Teacher Training Course with Xu Dingzhong (Senior Director of the Beijing Dance Academy, China).
Preparations are under way for the Royal Academy of Dance examinations, with Lynnette Kelley’s renowned classes in full swing, and we’re also gearing up for the spring festival season. And, of course, sugar plums are starting to dance in everyone’s heads – old friends and new friends alike.
Academy demonstration day is scheduled for Saturday, December 8, 2007.
GOH BALLET & MOSCOW BALLET
In the midst of all the season start-up excitement, the Academy, in partnership with the Moscow Ballet, held auditions on September 14 th to select 14 dancers for Swan Lake, which the Moscow Ballet will perform at the Centre for Performing Arts on Monday and Tuesday, November 5 and 6. The dancers are being coached by Goh Ballet Academy Instructor & Principal’s Assistant for the Junior Division, Fiona Smith ( ARAD, RAD TC diploma, NBS diploma). The 14 young dancers are: Ashley Hale, Amy McCrea, Caroline Ford, Candace Gordon, Danielle Gould, Isabelle Chang, Janica Grenier, Kallie Hu, Nicole Ciapponi, Parisa Mehregan, Polina Terentieva, Rena Sugiyama, Sarah Wong and Zoe Newton-Mason . Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ca and the Centre box office.
SPEAKING OF SWAN LAKE
We just received news that Goh Ballet graduate Céline Gittens, who won gold from the Genée International Competition in 2005 and then joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2006, has been cast to learn the role of Odile and Odette in the company’s production of Swan Lake. At just 19 years of age, this is a great coup and speaks well of both her technical and especially her artistic maturity, as this is one of the most challenging roles in ballet, requiring perfect lines and artistic versatility to play these two opposite roles.
COMPANY PERFORMANCES AND TOURS
The Goh Ballet Company was happy to be invited to perform in the Burnaby Arts Council’s 15 th Anniversary Cavalcade of Stars on Friday, October 19 th to a packed and appreciative house. As with the Cavalcade’s fifth and 10th anniversary events, performers did not have to audition, but were invited back as they represented the best of the last five years. Alumni from past anniversary specials include Burnaby’s world-famous crooner Michael Bublé.
A couple days later, the Company embarked on its first tour of the season (October 22 to 31), fulfilling its mission to bring classical arts excellence to British Columbia’s smaller communities and youth by performing 16 shows at schools in the Salmon Arm region. Ballet Master Yau Ping Zhu guided the dancers through classical pieces of exacting technique and artistry, and crowd-pleasing spectacle, such as Chinese folk-inspired Red Ribbon. While there, a local community committee spontaneously formed with the exciting goal to bring our dancers back in December to perform The Nutcracker.
There will be more educational performances in the Lower Mainland in November, February & March!
And Company Artistic Director Choo Chiat Goh, with Society President Fei Wong, as well as Executive Director Brian Gross will unveil the Goh Ballet Company’s 3-year performance calendar in November, taking the Company through to June 2011 with exhilarating new ballets, new choreographers, and special programming to spotlight British Columbia’s 150 th Anniversary, the Olympics, and the growing cultural community of the international city of Vancouver!
BALANCHINE FOUNDATION GUEST
In early November, the George Balanchine Foundation will send dance artist Ben Huys to select a Balanchine piece for the Goh Ballet Company to perform for the 30 th Anniversary Gala in May 2008. While here, Mr. Huys will also be a guest instructor for two weeks for the Academy’s Professional Division.
Mr. Huys was born in Ghent, Belgium and studied at the Municipal Ballet School in Antwerp. In 1985 he won the Prix de Lausanne and attended the School of American Ballet. He joined New York City Ballet the following year, where he danced principal roles in a vast repertoire including work by Balanchine, Robbins 
and Martins. Mr. Huys has since performed with many companies throughout the world such as The Zurich Opera Ballet, Geneva Ballet, Asami Maki Ballet, Tokyo Star Dancers Ballet and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet . He has directed and produced his own group, Stars of American Ballet , with principal and soloist dancers from The New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The San Francisco Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem and The National Ballet of Canada. He also currently stages ballets for the George Balanchine Trust, The Jerome Robbins Trust and for Christopher Wheeldon. In addition to directing and staging, Mr. Huys has taught at recognized institutions across the world, such as the Zurich Opera Ballet School, Ballet Arizona, Universal Ballet Korea, Guangzhou Ballet China, Shanghai Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Star Dancers Ballet Japan, and Korean National Ballet.
‘TIS THE SEASON…
Along with the Salmon Arm Nutcracker tour (December 17-18), members of the Company will guest at Nutcracker performances in Silverdale, WA on November 24 & 25, and in Astoria, OR on 
December 1 and 2. December 20 to 23, sponsored in part by Rio Tinto Alcan, they will reprise last year’s sold out Nutcracker run at Whistler’s Millennium Place.
Of course, the Academy will have its own presentation of Nutcracker December 14 and 15 at Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby. Tickets are on sale now in the Academy office.
After Christmas, the Company has plans to return to Whistler for performances of its celebratory mixed program Divertissement, ushering in a fantastic 2008, and giving all the snow bunnies from across the world a dose of culturally diverse artistic adrenaline after a day of downhill adrenaline (with matinees for those in Whistler more for the idyllic setting).
HIGHER AND HIGHER
In January both the Company and the Academy will go into high (or higher) gear in preparation for the Goh Ballet’s 30 th Anniversary events, which will include shows both in May and June. But more… much more on that in the Winter Newsletter!
