Every December, families crowd downtown to watch the Goh Ballet’s wonderful production of The Nutcracker. It’s a professional showing that brings together Goh Academy protégées and Principal Dancers from professional, international ballet companies..

Vancouver’s Goh Ballet was founded in 1979 by Choo Chiat Goh and Lin Yee Goh, both originally Principal Dancers with The National Ballet of China. Over the years, Goh students have gone on to win prestigious ballet competitions around the world.

Though still actively involved, the Gohs have passed on the Artistic Directorship of the academy to their Order of Canada-winning daughter Chan Hon Goh, once a Prima Ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada.

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In 2020, there can be no live Goh Nutcracker. But, Chan Hon Goh is moving forward with a special online film release: The Nutcracker. Beyond The Stage.

‘In the classic fairy-tale of Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, she rescues him from the sword of the evil Mouse King,’ Goh explains. ‘But, in 2020, evil is all the uncertainties that torment a fallen prince in pursuit of a career in the world of ballet. Separated from his family during the lockdown, Alex, a 20-year-old struggling dancer, spends the cold, pandemic ridden winter in isolation and is forced to re-examine everything that was once familiar and is no longer, until he meets his Clara. Will he find the resolve to continue on his journey?’

CBC News produced a short piece on the Goh’s 2020 creation.

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Goh Ballet’s Beyond The Stage will be available online from December 18, 2020 until January 2, 2021.

Goh Ballet Beyond The Stage

www.creatorsvancouver.com

Header Photo: Gaelle Marcel