Goh Ballet takes on difficult Four Seasons
Students at Goh Ballet will be dancing in an ambitious version of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for their end-of-the-year showcase at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Dancers will wear different costumes in each of the four seasons, which also feature movement created by four different choreographers.
Dancers will perform to live music by Vancouver Academy of Music.
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is one of the most recognizable pieces of music in the western classical tradition, even for those who wouldn’t consider themselves fans of classical music. That’s one reason why Goh Ballet’s director Chan Hon Goh chose it.
“The challenge when you work with a piece like that you really want to make sure it is of a quality that is expected,” she said.
“I really wanted to raise our bar and challenge our choreographers to come up with something innovative.”
In addition to the repeating motifs in Vivaldi’s music, the four seasons will be visually united by a video projection of works by Group of Seven artists, such as Tom Thomson and Lawren Harris, and by Emily Carr.
The Four Seasons & More will show off the pointe and ballet skills of the Goh’s senior professional school of student dancers aged 15 to 19, with about 175 students appearing on stage.
The two performances open with Quintessence, a contemporary ballet by Monica Proenca set to the music of Edvard Grieg ’s Holberg Variations.
Goh said she hopes that dancing to live music will challenge the ballet academy’s students.
“I feel being able to produce professional level performances are really important for cultivating
young artists — especially in a city like Vancouver where there isn’t that much classical ballet,” she said.
One of the live musicians for the performances is Joseph Elworthy, executive director of VAM. The collaboration between the two academies is the first of what is planned to be an ongoing relationship.
Goh said from her own experience as a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada that dancing to live music makes a huge difference onstage. She said feeling the presence of the music can help students bring their own personal interpretation to their performances.
On June 3 at 2 p.m., Goh’s children’s division will premiere Les Saisons Fantastiques, also at The Playhouse. It will feature characters from the Disney feature film Frozen.
In 2018, Goh Ballet will celebrate its 40th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the academy will be performing Cinderella with all new choreography by Maina Gielgud.
Goh Ballet Academy was founded in 1978 by Choo Chiat and Lin Yee Goh, the parents of Chan Hon Goh. Goh Ballet’s students have performed in international dance competitions such as the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Genée International Competition organized by the Royal Academy of Dance in London.