? LAYNE CHRISTENSEN mmunity Reporter Wis a case of life imitating art: ly duckling grows into a swan id marries her dashing prince. Except (hat one can’t imagine the wan,” in this case National Ballet of 1ada_ prima bailerina Chan Hon moh, ever having an ugly day in her fc. And her fiancé (they are not yet fizothed), though princely, is not ly.a prince but Che Chun, noted oreographer, ballet master of ronto’s Ballet Jorgen and former @ece-principal of Vancouver's Goh Ppallet Academy. (There is a fairytale Bevist to the story, however: Chun was . oh’s first partner.) ‘ _ «The pair are back in Vancouver this th to teach classes at the academy at Goh’s parents founded in 1979. ler: father, Choo Chiat Goh, and other, Lin Yee Goh, were both prin- - dancers with the Central Ballet of a.: Choo Chiat’s sister, Soonee é, runs the: bailet program for couver Academiy of Music; his late other Choo San Goh was the artistic NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge PRIMA ballerina Chan Hon Goh kicks back at the Goh family's British Properties residence. ; ector for the Washington Ballet. - : With ballet in her blood, Chan was: rely ‘destined to enter the “family iness.” But the 27-year-old says ite the opposite was true. ‘They tried to interest me in other gs," she says during a brief break ym classes. Her mother and father bin'in this discussion at the academy the:Sentinel’ grad’s accomplish- mts : Goh was enrolled"in piano when. as four and she tried classical bnging.- When she was nine she gan.to dance. “I think they put me dance so 1 would have something do, so that I wouldn’t be watching bo much TV,” she muses. . wasn't until she was 12, though, he became serious about becom ‘a danicer. “I realized it was some-. nig I really, really loved doing, some- ing I felt | could be good at if I had fhe chance... so I asked for the chance.” : She was given it, and she excelled. Her successes are well reported. ». ‘AtUi6 she won a silver medal at the - ix.de, Lausanne.’ She was the only offers of scholarships followed. At 18 she applied for a Canada Council grant to attend the School. of American Ballet in New York, but her adjndicators told her she was ready to join acompany. They arranged for her Prima ballerina to attend a class at the National Ballet and at the end of the day she was offered a contract. At the National, her rise through the ranks was rapid -—— two years in the corps, two years as second soloist and another two as first soloist. Then the coveted promotion, in 1994, to principal dancer. all the more spectacular when one considers that she is an outsider, 90% of the company's 65 dancers having come up through the National’s own schooi. She has danced the roles of the Chan Hon Goh Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Lise in La Fille Mal Gardée, the Sylph in La Syiphide and the Swap Queen in Swan Lake. Critics have described .1er as a bal- lerina with “perfect grace and heart- stopping balance” and “an irrepress- ible hummingbird of a dancer.” But she insists she has more to learn. and is happy to pass this month at home, teaching and training under the guidance of her father. “His eyes will never let anything - go,” she says of her Zather’s intense: scrutiny. : With each role she gains new returns to W.V. insight into her craft. “When | was younger | was mare concemed with being able to keep up technically, Now I’m exploring more the characters of each role,” she says. The character is what will bring the role alive and make it believable. she explains. “To do something that other peo- something that is my own, add my _ own personality, add the personality that I feel is demanded of the role —~ ’ that is what's exciting.” She'll have a chance to do just that this fall; when she plays the female lead of Tatiana in Onegin, « complex role made famous by “so many great balierinas” including one of her ” favorites, Natalia Makarova. , Goh is also looking forward to. the opportunity to . work with the National's new artistic director. James Kudelka, “He's a fabulous choreographer and he’s Canadian,” she says, convey- ing a sense of national pride. “He's very influential in the world of dance * so we as dancers are. looking forward to having that collaboration with him.” But what about the fairytale? Being a ballet dancer is work — hard work, says Goh — even when you've. been biessed with a privileged upbringing, natural grace ard critical success. “| was given a lot of opportunities but at the same time I"ve had io prove myself and preve,that I'm able to do everything weil.” P'anadian entered that year. Several Her ascension to prima ballerina is n appeal for equality NeAT the recent Vancouver Reform Party Convention, 86% of the Helegates supported a resolution broclaiming “‘the equality of very individual... equal protec- ion and equal benefit of the law.” The delegates voted io delete the words ‘without discrimination” following com- blaints that they could mean special privileges ior minorities. They also opposed “special sta- is” for Quebec. “Reform, a party. whose members have fever particularly distinguished themselves in ‘avoring equality of women, aboriginal peo- visible minorities, the disabled, and gays ‘lesbians has now come out foursquare for quality.” ry? oa ; Because equality has become tle new icon those opnosing remedia! measutes for groups. iffering the effects of jong-lasting and profound stemic negative discrimination.. The.tnere proclamation of equality purports wipe away. decades, even centuries, of mis- a treatment and pretends that somehow the playing field is now level. in North America abo- . riginal people, women, the disabled, and people of color were always identified as group members and subjected to inferior treatment, Their edu- cational and social options were restricted and they were not allowed to achieve competence. The effects of this discriminatory treat- ment will not disappear with a mindless and Pores neneeenieeae ‘hollow support for “equality” any more than the empercr’s clothes will suddenly appear after a display of the tailors’ invoices. They will go away only by measures which will correct them, measures such as equity, the acknowledgement of the legitimacy’ of native : claims, and recognition of the special status of Canada’s only Francophone province. Equality joins two other icons which Reform uses to prop up privilege: individual- isin and merit. Individualism is also a pretense. It treats people as if they are not members of a group by dint of age, gender. ethnicity. and experi- ence. Societies has always had groups and has always treated them differently: babies, the aged and infirm receive special treatment, so do children and war veterans. All societies practise this form of positive discrimination based on group identity. Merit as a criterion pretends that standards devised by traditionally empowered groups are current and relevant and that they are applied equally. Supporters of the merit prin- ciple would have us believe that everyone starts out with the same opportunities, and ~ rewards and selections are made solely on the basis of competence. This is patently untrue. While these icons were used to usher in modern society, they were never applied in practice, Equality was replaced by status, indi- viduality by class, and merit by wealth. It is hypocritical and anti-historical to resurrect any ple haven't thought of yet. or to do of them now to oppose remedial measures. What Canada needs as it approaches a new millennium is to replace equality with equity in order to correct the injustices, bias. and neglect of the past; individuality with community so that the identity of people by imposed and chosen characteristics is recog- nized and respected: and merit with entitle- ment, so that we can achieve a society in which unfair competition continually keeps some people at the bottom of the heap by one in which everyone is treated with dignity and enjoys security. Icons emerging from the mouth of the Reform Party are like bubbles from soft soap. They may float on the breeze of fantasy but they have no substance and will burst once they contact the reality of social existence. — Eugene Kaellis is the co-executive director of the Burnaby Multiculiural Society. 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