Newsletter, Spring 2007 - Goh Ballet Academy - Vancouver's World-Class Dance School

The daffodils have started to push themselves up out of Vancouver's dormant winter gardens, and before you know it the roses will be in bloom... and so will the dancers of all levels at the Goh Ballet!

But, boy has it been a busy winter! Just look at all the performances the Goh Ballet Youth Ensemble has had (and will continue to have) this year. There's hardly a break! And that's what makes the Goh Ballet what it is - an Academy that prepares students for the rigours of a professional career (in dance or otherwise), because it's like a mini-professional career - with the best on-the-job-training program around!

We've also been blessed this winter to have French guest artist James Amar with us. James trained with the Paris Opera National Ballet School and his professional dance career started with the Jeune Ballet de France (whose goals are parallel with our own Youth Ensemble). He moved on to become Soloist with both the Opera Ballet of Nantes and National Ballet of the Rhin, where he performed classic, neo-classical and contemporary repertoire across the globe. He has taught in his native France at the Conservatory of Salon de Provence and the Jeune Ballet de France, and internationally with Ballet Master or guest teacher positions at the National School of Novi Sad (Serbia), The National Ballet Company Oleg Danovski (Romania), The National Ballet Company of Shanghai (China), the National Ballet Company of Cairo (Egypt) and the National Ballet Company of Skopje (Macedonia). We're delighted to have him with us.

To see Mr. Amar off, there will be a special presentation on Thursday, March 29 at 4:00 p.m. at the Goh Ballet. All professional division parents, families and friends are invited. You'll see glimpses of our exciting and groundbreaking upcoming performances (more about those later).

At the end of the presentation we hope you'll stay for a special meeting for Goh Ballet parents and supporters. We'll be putting together committees for the - count them - THREE different shows we'll be having in June - involving both the general and professional divisions. At the meeting and in the days leading up to the presentation on March 29th, Goh Ballet teachers will be helping parents to sign up for committees, including: fundraising, costumes, scenery/props, security, and tickets/publicity.

It's already been 5 years since the 25th Anniversary Gala. And those 5 years have been packed with more accolades and awards than we can possibly list here, but suffice it to say that Goh Ballet students have not only won the highest ballet awards any Canadian has ever won - they've been recognized with the highest awards that the ballet world confers. Not only have our students won awards, but they've been spread to companies in all corners of the ballet world - New York, England, Miami, Toronto, San Francisco, Hong Kong and on and on. And we're looking forward to seeing many return to take the stage in Vancouver in the 2007-2008 Season.

In the meantime, as always, while we're proud of the past - we look to the future. Registration for the Goh Ballet 2007 Summer Intensive kicks off on April 14th. For audition, assessment and registration details, see our website, which has been newly designed for the 30th Anniversary - or pick up a brochure at the Academy. We'll also start accepting applications for the start of the 2007-2008 Season on April 14th. For 2007-2008, we're happy to be welcoming new international professional division instructors!

For the first time in history, a local Vancouver performing group will present a ballet from the classical repetoire in its entirety and with a full cast - just as it was meant to be. On June 7th at the Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver, the Goh Ballet Youth Ensemble will present the quintessential romantic masterpiece, Giselle, in all it's glory. Brand new sets and costumes have come from China, our guest ballet master (James Amar) has come from France, our students have come from across Canada and the world - and we know you will want to come with all your family, friends, teachers, hairdressers, co-workers... everyone!

But that's not all! On June 8th the Ensemble will present an exciting triple-bill including the world premiere of a lyrical jazz group piece by award-winning Vancouver choreographer (and Goh Ballet Instructor) Rachel Poirier; a neo-classical piece, Les Malheurs de Lucy, by one of Canada’s most well-known choreographers, Eddy Toussaint; and a suite from Don Quixote, set by James Amar.

June 15 and June 16 will be our all-school performances, Coppelia Fantasie, at the Vancouver Playhouse. Our in-house staff are putting their reknown creativity to task, as usual - creating a wonderful performance. Many thanks to every one of you: Aimée Després, Bao Zhu Sheng, Jia Nian Chen, Ken Guan, Rachael Poirier, Tanya Phelps, Yao Ping Zhu, Ying Zhang, and the coordinators of the performances, Jian Rong Sheng, and Fiona Smith. And, of course, thanks to our regular pianists, Si Ping Ma and Gene Tretiak.

Tickets go on sale April 18! Please join one of our committees and bring your ideas and enthusiasm to the community meeting on March 29th to start spreading the word far and wide!

As always, there's much more to tell you about - awards, honours, new programs, upcoming events! To summarize:

A new session of Goh Ballet's Teacher Training Program will kick off this summer, with a 4-week program covering teaching from preschool to intermediate levels. July 9 to August 7, 2007. For more details, see our website.

Goh Ballet dancers fanned out across the U.S. for the 2007 Youth America Grand Prix Semi-Finals, and what great results!

Kirsten Wicklund took 2nd place in both Contemporary Dance and Classical Dance in San Francisco, California.
Melissa Ong likewise took 2nd in both Contemporary and Classical in Greenville, South Carolina.
Miguel Nguyen took 2nd in Contemporary Dance and 3rd in Classical Dance in Denver, Colorado.
Alyssa Stevens and Stephanie Pedlow placed in the top 12 in Contemporary and Classical, respectively, in Huntington Beach, California.

One round of RAD exams passed with great results in February, another will come in May, and in March four Goh Ballet dancers (Alyssa Stevens, Melissa Ong, Gabriella Jamieson and Angelica Villalon) performed for the Solo Seal, the Royal Academy of Dance's highest examination honour. Last year, Goh Ballet dancer James Stout became the Academy's 19th Solo Seal recipient. As usual, they've been given the best training available with, among others, Lynnette Kelley. And with Si Ping Ma backing them up on the ivories, they were in great hands.

Students and teachers are busily preparing for fesitval season. The Surrey Festival of Dance runs from March 30 to April 5. And the Pacific West Performing Arts Festival will run April 23 to 27.

The Vancouver Ballet Society has announced its 2006-2007 scholarship recipients, and nine Goh Ballet students have been honoured with the awards. Congratulations to: Erika Atsumi, Nicole Ciapponi, Gabriella Jamieson, Melissa Johnston, Parisa Mehregan, Melissa Ong, Alyssa Stevens, Angelica Villalon, and Kirsten Wicklund.

Especially memorable winter performances (from the dozens of memorable performances) were at the Whistler Millennium Place's North Pole Central, performing the Nutcracker December 22 and 23; and the lengthy standing ovations at a performance in Kelowna on March 13th. Reviews said, "the audience was simply blind-sided by the spectacular beauty and poise of these dancers. Tuesday’s concert at the Kelowna Community Theatre, with its customary capacity crowd, was the penultimate of the current season." Endless thanks go to Ballet Master Yao Ping Zhu, who has, as always, navigated the roaring rapids of the Ensemble's performance schedule with skill and his inimitable, perfectly understated zeal.

Well, that's all for now. We look forward to seeing you soon!