Goh Ballet Academy was established by National Ballet of China’s Choo Chiat and Lin Yee Goh in 1978. Goh Ballet was created with a desire to create a ballet academy in Vancouver, Canada that focused on training technical and artistic excellence and celebrated cultural awareness in the dance community.

Mr. Goh had a vision of curating a performance group that could be cultural ambassadors and bring dance to communities internationally. In 1979, he formed the Goh Ballet Youth Company (GBYC). Over 35 years later, this performance group serves as an artistic bridge to aspiring young dancers locally and internationally to transition from students to professionals. The Youth Company has toured all over Asia, Europe, and North America. The graduates continue their professional careers in world-renowned ballet companies. In 1987, Goh Ballet pioneered the first half-day academic program to allow students the opportunity to continue school studies and professional training simultaneously.

The academy provides young dancers with wide-ranging repertoire of classical and contemporary ballet, jazz, character, and Chinese dance. Goh Ballet has presented full-length productions and segments of classical favorites such as Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle, and the critically-acclaimed annual production of The Nutcracker—all of which have been staged by internationally-acclaimed guest artists.

Under the direction of Prima Ballerina Chan Hon Goh since 2010, former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada, the academy continues its legacy of training generations of dancers who receive international praise and accolades.

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Chan Hon Goh C.M., D.Litt is one of the most prolific artists of her generation with an illustrious stage career of over 20 years as the first Chinese Canadian principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. She is a founding member of Vancouver’s Arts and Culture Policy Council, which advocates for the creative arts community. Since retiring from the stage in 2009, Ms. Goh is the Director of Goh Ballet Canada, a professional ballet academy with locations in Vancouver and Toronto. She hosts the annual Canadian Masterclass Series, and she often serves as a jury member for several international dance competitions.

Ms. Goh’s accomplishments, with irrepressible devotion to the enhancement of the cultural life of Canada, have garnered several prestigious awards and distinctions, including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of British Columbia, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum and Diamond Jubilee Medals, and the Order of Canada for her excellence in ballet as a principal dancer, artistic director, and cultural ambassador.

In her illustrious 20-year stage career, Ms. Goh employed her delicate lyricism and emotional depth to personify the essence of lead roles in ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Onegin and the title roles in Giselle, Madame Butterfly, and La Sylphide. She was known for the vibrancy and elegance she brought to her extensive Balanchine repertoire and had multiple roles created for her at the National Ballet of Canada. She was chosen to perform in the company’s premieres of works by contemporary choreographers John Neumeier, Christopher Wheeldon, and Jirí Kylián, among others.

An accomplished and gifted Canadian dance artist who successfully developed her talents into multiple artistic channels, Ms. Goh frequently appeared as a guest artist with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet (Kennedy Center for Performing Arts) and with major ballet companies in Europe, Australia, North America, and Asia. Ms. Goh has also partnered with some of the most accomplished danseurs of our time, including Vladimir Malakov, Peter Boal, and Johan Kolberg.

On May 31, 2009, Ms. Goh danced her farewell performance as Giselle to a sold-out audience at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto with the National Ballet of Canada. Her fans and colleagues paid tribute to her with standing ovations and numerous curtain calls.