Principal Dancer Chan Hon Goh retires this season after 20 glorious years with The National Ballet of Canada.

“Chan has given us 20 years of beautiful and memorable performances at the National Ballet. Not only has she had a stellar career, she is a wonderfully kind and generous colleague with a professional etiquette and is a great model for young dancers,” says Karen Kain, Artistic Director. “Chan brings her remarkable energy and dedication to all she puts her hand to, from the building of her business to the raising of her lovely family. I will greatly miss her on stage and off, and look forward to her exciting future.”

Audiences and critics alike have admired Chan’s artistry in numerous roles, but perhaps most admired among them is her role of Giselle which she has chosen for her final performance.

A decade ago, Dance Magazine recognized Chan’s talent in “the Ballerina’s Hamlet”. “[Goh] is blessed with an exotic natural beauty and a porcelain fragility which cleverly disguises her great pliancy and strong technique. Her musicality shines forth in her lyricism and she made an enchanting peasant Giselle and an ethereal but warm-blooded spirit.” Dance Magazine, 1999

Chan’s final performance will be opposite Principal Dancer Zdenek Konvalina in the role of Albrecht. The two have performed together increasingly over the past couple years, with critical acclaim. “Chan Hon Goh, radiant as ever, and new principal Zdenek Konvalina create the sparks of a magic partnership…” The Hamilton Spectator, 2006

There is no doubt that Chan leaves the stage at the peak of her career. “Goh is at the height of her powers, where technical ability and dramatic insight converge. Her dancing these days feels freer than ever; she is totally present and committed to what is unfolding on stage.” DanceView, 2008

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Congratulations to Chan Hon Goh on the fulfillment of her lifelong dream of being a performer in the spotlight and our best wishes on the beginning of an exciting new future.

[Photo credits: Top, Chan Hon Goh and Zdenek Konvalina in Giselle. Photo by Sian Richards. Centre, Chan Hon Goh in rehearsal for Giselle. Photo by Sian Richards. Above, Chan Hon Goh and Zdenek Konvalina in Symphony in C. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.]

For the latest news on Chan Hon Goh’s retirement:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/the-national-ballet-loses-its-iron-butterfly/article1153945/

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/639408

http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=1629653

http://www.nowtoronto.com/stage/story.cfm?content=169522

[Etienne Lavigne is a First Soloist]

For this upcoming run of Giselle, I will be dancing Hilarion for the first time. It’s a role that I have wanted to do for quite a while and I am very excited to get the opportunity this time around.

As far as character goes, Hilarion is interesting. He is a good guy, although he is a bit of a brute. He is in love with Giselle who does not love him in return. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she loves him too but when the Prince shows up, it becomes more of a brotherly love. I’m not bitter…

Hilarion mostly mimes in the first act. In the second act, the Wilis make him dance to death, literally. In the rehearsal process, Principal Artistic Coach Magdalena Popa and Senior Ballet Master Peter Ottmann take on the roles of the Wilis and they do the “dance me to death” part very well. We have been working mainly on the solo which is where all the dancing takes place. It is physically very demanding and Magda and Peter have been trying to build up my stamina slowly. The difficulty about the solo is that you have to build up the energy level enough so that people believe that this is so hard that it actually kills you. Some days it requires no acting on my part…

On a more personal note, Giselle is one of my favourite ballets, especially the second act which I think is probably the best in the classical repertoire. I find Giselle’s unconditional love very moving and the idea that someone can be danced to complete exhaustion and finally to death appeals to my dancer’s sensibility.

Hope to see you there!

[Photos: Top, Etienne Lavigne. Photo by Bruce Zinger. Centre, Hilarion Costume Sketch for Giselle by Desmond Heely. Above, Artists of the Ballet in Giselle. Photo by Barry Gray.]

I feel like Giselle is that one special ballet that makes everyone fall in love with dance. I know many dancers who say that it was watching a performance of Giselle as a child that started their lifelong passion for ballet. After having rehearsed it for several weeks now, I have to say that I am just as enamoured. Dating back to 1841 when it was premiered, Giselle is a story of a young woman living in a small village who falls in love with a nobleman, Albrecht, who is pretending to be a peasant. As he courts her, the whole village comes alive with dancing and celebrations. But Giselle soon finds out that she has been deceived and that Albrecht is in fact engaged to another. In her shock and pain, Giselle dies. She continues on to become one of the Wilis, heartbroken women who dance any man entering their forest to death. 

While I enjoy the light-hearted dancing that comes along with my role as a peasant in the first act, it is dancing the part of a Wili that I find truly amazing. It is a role so finely layered that it is impossible to ever perfect. Each rehearsal is a process of refinement and fine tuning. The power the steps bring to the Corps de Ballet is breathtaking and I love the feeling of being so unified in our dancing and energy. What I have been enjoying the most though is layering the different emotions. At first I feel as though the Wilis are desolate and lost but then as Albrecht enters our forest to visit Giselle’s grave, there is a sudden shift and we become cold and vengeful. 

As a first year Corps de Ballet member, having never been involved in the staging of Giselle before, I have found myself often watching the many other rehearsals that are required to stage a ballet of this calibre. In particular I enjoy seeing the beautiful artistry that is brought to the role of Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis. The music alone can give me chills, but it is Myrtha’s strength along with Giselle’s fragility that makes me love this ballet so much.

Dancing this role that is technically difficult as well as so emotionally deep and involved has been inspiring and I look forward to bringing it and everything I have learned to the stage.

[Photos: Top, Alexandra MacDonald. Photo by Sian Richards. Centre, Artists of the Ballet in Giselle. Photo by David Cooper. Above, Heather Ogden with Artists of the Ballet in Giselle. Photo by David Cooper.]

This Mother’s Day, The National Ballet of Canada’s three new mothers will be celebrating in a whole new way. First Soloists Tanya Howard and Rebekah Rimsay and Second Soloist Lisa Robinson share how they will spend this Mother’s Day after the arrivals of their children.

Tanya Howard, First Soloist

“This year, I’m actually going to be home in South Africa on Mother’s Day for the first time in over 12 years. I’m thrilled to be spending my first Mother’s Day with my daughter Lia and my mother. We’re going to our favourite restaurant in the beach town of Jeffrey’s Bay where my family has a cottage.”

Rebekah Rimsay, First Soloist

“For Mother’s Day, I would like to sleep in! Then, if the weather is nice, I would like to go for a nice long walk with Anya and my husband Stan, ending on the patio of one of our favourite restaurants on Roncesvalles Avenue for brunch. In the afternoon, Stan and I will celebrate with our Moms to show them our appreciation, which we now see from a whole new perspective.”

Lisa Robinson, Second Soloist

Lisa Robinson and husband Gayan Fernando are eagerly awaiting their bundle of joy, due to arrive any day now.

[Photo credits: Top, Tanya Howard and daughter Lia Jude Eichvald. Centre, Rebekah Rimsay and daughter Anya Josephina Rimsay Zalewski. Left, Lisa Robinson. Photo by Sian Richards.]