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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.

The man his friends remember[]

‘Quiet and rundown during his last visit here'

MAUREEN KHOO, an Institute of Education lecturer and former ballet student of Goh Choo San and his sisters: He was a good friend who kept in touch whenever he returned to Singapore. Although he became world-famous, he had no airs and was never pretentious. He never forgot his old friends.

I was fond of him. He was a wonderful teacher and a sensitive choreographer. His death is a terrible loss.

When he was an undergraduate in the University of Singapore, he gathered groups of dancers including the Singapore Ballet Group to which I belonged. We had a good time going to coffeehouses in between shows and rehearsals.

He occasionally gave classes when he was here. I could sense the improvement in his teaching after he had taught abrouad. He knew what he wanted and communicated this very well.

The last time I saw him was earlier this year.

ALICE LEE, the teacher who danced in Choo San's works when he was an undergraduate: He started choreographing with us and even did a fashion show in Tropicana and danced for TV. We are proud to be the first dancers using his choreography before he became famous.

The nice part about him was that he always remained the same. The time I saw him was during the Miss Universe pageant, when we had lunch at Boulevard Hotel. He ordered satay.

He looked rundown but was otherwise his usual self. But he was as if preoccupied. We - myself, his sisters and (choreographer) Anthony Then - were doing the talking, joking and laughing. I recall asking him: "Will we be able to see you again?"

He replied: "No, my schedule is too tight." He flew off on the very day of the finals.

CECILIA HON, artistic director of Ballet Theatre Studio and a close friend: He died very young, probably before he could choreograph his best works. Choreographers usually live long and improve as they go along.

He was entering a new phase, going into full-length narrative ballets such as the three-act Romeo And Juliet. It was danced by the Boston Ballet recently and was a big hit.

The tragedy is the snuffing out of his life when he had almost reached his peak. He was the one big international hope of Singapore, the Singaporean outstanding in the arts today.

WILLIAM YAP, businessman, ballet dancer and recording artiste in the late '60s. Choo San and I were friends since 1967. I met him at the Singapore Ballet Academy, where I was a late starter in ballet at the age of 18. He gave me a lot of courage, telling me not to give up.

I recall going to his Pasir Panjang home when he was at the university and we used to Joke a lot together.

We became good friends. We were so close probably because we were both from Chinese schools. (He was from Chinese High School and I from Catholic High School.) He told me never to forget our education when we danced.

When he was offered a scholarship, he wondered if he should go abroad and asked my view. As he already got university degree, I said he should go.

We corresponded regularly. Whenever he returned, we would set time aside to talk for hours about our childhood, our future and his plans.

When he heard I had cancer, he wrote me a lot of letters. He urged me not to give up, that illness was not the end of life.

On return in May, he told me to choreograph Madam White Snake. He hoped I could come and watch it in the US. On that last trip, in addition to ballet, he wanted to go into a florist business in Singapore with me. The business would have New York connections.

I shall miss a close and good friend.

References[]

Christine Khor, "The dance is over", The Straits Times, 1 December 1987[1].

Acknowledgements[]

This article was archived by Roy Tan.

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

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