Archive of "The dance is over", The Straits Times, 1 December 1987

=Scan of article & page=



The dance is over

Goh Choo San, the Singapore-born choreographer who made a name for himself in the international dance scene, died at his Manhattan home from viral colitis last Saturday. He was diagnosed as having Aids last December. CHRISTINE KHOR pays tribute to him.

GOH CHOO SAN

14.9.48 - 28.11.87
 * 1948: Born in Singapore
 * 1958: Started dancing at the Singapore Ballet Academy
 * 1989: Graduated from the then University of Singapore in biochemistry
 * 1970: Joined ie Dutch National Ballet as a dancer
 * 1973: Choreographed his first ballet there
 * 1978: Resident choreographer at the Washington Ballet
 * 1978: Received a choreography grant from National Endowment for the Arts
 * 1983: Won the Best Choreography award in the international dance competition in Varna, Bulgaria
 * 1984: Appointed associate artistic director at the Washington Ballet
 * 1988: Won Washington Mayor’s Arts Award for Excellence
 * 1987: Awarded the Cultural Medallion by Singapore
 * 1987: Was one of e celebrity judges at K Universe pageant held ii Singapore

OBITUARY

THERE WON'T be another homegrown choreographer of Goh Choo San’s international stature for a long time to come.

Perhaps never again.

When he died on Saturday in New York at the age of 39, the slenderly-built youngest child of the prominent ballet-loving Goh family was reaching the peak of his brilliant career.

An honours graduate in biochemistry from the then University of Singapore, he was - against innumerable odds - poised to become a household name abroad in the world of dance.

Top ballet and contemporary dance companies, from his adoptive United States to France, were beating a path to him, seeking his rare talent.

In fact, on the morning of his death, he received commissions for three major new dances, two with Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada and one with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, according to a UPI report.

In international ballet's highly competitive arena, Choo San's was the name on the lips of world-acclaimed artistic directors such as Alvin Ailey and dance megastars such as American Ballet Theater’s artistic director, Mikhail Baryshnikov, for whom he recently choreographed Configurations.

The choreographer was on the brink of graduating from the short abstract pieces such as Fives, In The Glow Of Night, Birds Of Paradise, Schubert Symphony and Momentum. He was actually getting into stride in choreographing full-length narrative ballets, which are the true tests of a choreographer's endurance.

He was prolific, creating at five new works a year - a fantastic amount for any choreographer. Although he had no music training, he was one of the most musical choreographers, with the instinctive use of music arguably his most outstanding quality. His work was characterised by a tasteful blend of his Asian roots with Western technique.

Choreographing for just under a decade, Choo San put Singapore and the region on the cultural map by the very fact that he was born and brought up here. But the irony is that he had to leave Singapore before he could reach the full depth and breadth of his unique genius.

In 1980, in an interview for the New York-based Dance Magazine, whose cover he graced, he had harsh words to say of Singapore:

“I hated Singapore. It was so stifling artistically. I couldn't have done anything there. There’s no time for arts, no subsidies, no time for anything but work and business. And to be a dancer ... there’s little respect for a dancer in Singapore .... In Singapore my life was a total facade. When I got to Europe I could dance, I could be myself."

Bom to a Pasir Panjang family remarkable for producing four professional dancers in one generation, Choo San inherited the family passion for dance, and extended it to the furthest limits.

According to his friends, he was a highly-strung loner who came to life only when he was dancing or choreographing. He looked the very image of the lean, lethargic, languid loner who liked to spend time at home by himself, listening to music. Composers such as Stravinsky and Prokofiev, Debussy and Ravel inspired his choreography.

A dance colleague recalls how he would "look fatigued, slumped over a chair as if everything’s drained out". But his energy would issue forth when he was choreographing, she remembers. "He would then rush around, a mass of energy."

Owner of a wry sense of humour, before leaving Singapore for good, Choo would go around on a motorcycle. Abroad, he would long for his favourite foods such as tau suan (lentils in syrup) and the nonya laksa at Chatterbox in Mandarin Hotel. He would go there every time he returned for a holiday.

He had an artistic eye for fashion, a great help when it came to costuming his dancers. As in other aspects of his choreography, he knew exactly what he wanted in the costumes.

A collector of objets d'art, Choo was especially fond of antique Chinese embroidery and Chinese paintings.

In June, Singapore dance lovers last saw his Ballade, choreographed for his brother Chiat’s Vancouver-based Goh Ballet Company. Praising his excellence as a choreographer and communicator, his niece Goh Chan Hon, who appeared in the item, gave insights into his modus operandi.

She said he told dancers to "imagine themselves enjoying a summer’s day at a cottage in the country and experiencing various levels of interaction with their friends. He normally took a month to choreograph an item".

Choo shared his artistic vision widely, serving as guest teacher with the Berlin Ballet, Boston School of Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet and many other companies and schools. At least 17 dance companies in the Americas, Europe and Asia have commissioned his work, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Royal Danish Ballet and Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas.

One of this year’s Cultural Medallion recipients for his dance contributions, Choo San gave charity performances raising funds for the Singapore Cultural Foundation in 1983 and 1985.

When he returned to Singapore in February to accept the medallion, he offered to help in the setting up of Singapore's first professional dance company, which his sister Soo Khim recently founded with choreographer Anthony Then.

He returned home for the second time tills year as a judge of the Miss Universe competition in May. According to a family spokesman, he was in Hongkong in October working with the Hongkong Ballet Company.

Choo San is survived by his mother, Ching Siew Han, and five brothers and three sisters. Besides eldest brother Choo Chiat and sister Soo Khim - who spent the last fortnight with him - they include Soonee, Singapore Ballet Academy’s founder who now runs the dance department at the Vancouver Academy of Music.

In the 1960Dance Magazine interview, he was quoted as saying: "I have no pipe dreams. I don’t believe life is fair. I let what I do take me. I let it dictate where I go. I don’t think about tomorrow. It is the moment that matters most. I get pleasure from my work, not because it is mine, but because it is exciting, because it is good, and it moves me." Goh Choo San’s life and work will continue to move world.

=See also=
 * Earliest cases of HIV/AIDS in Singapore
 * Archive of "Choreographer Goh Choo San dies in New York", The Straits Times, 1 December 1987
 * Archive of "Choo San leaps to new heights", New Nation, 15 August 1980
 * Archive of "Choo San’s million-dollar gift to young dancers and choreographers", The Straits Times, 17 January 1988

=References=
 * Irene Hoe, "Choreographer Goh Choo San dies in New York", The Straits Times, 1 December 1987.

=Acknowledgements=

This article was archived by Roy Tan.