youngsters t bailet’s not just for sissies, In Toronto that same month she danced ‘the Canadian premiere of The Tales of Arabian Nights. Also in May, she flew to Vancouver to perform with Dancers _ For Life and to Birmingham, England to perform § a another fundraiser. .. Then in June, she travelled to San Antonio, Texas, to -conduct a three-week workshop in intensive training at a ° ‘private ballet school there. Now she’s back in Vancouver teaching Goh Ballet's summer-school students and training for the upcoming season. In °97/798 she will make three debuts, including a. the lead in Romeo and Juliet. oe i NEWS photos Brad Ledwiige *- OUTREACH programs that bring ballet into the community are great because they show hat ” says Chan Hon Goh (in white, above). A prin- cipal dancer with the National Ballet, Goh is instructing summer students at the Goh Ballet A rademy in Vancouver, which holds an open house this Saturday, Aug. 2, starting at 11 a.m. n, b ALLET j isa “remarkable combination of atineticism and art. : No one 2 knot at better than ‘Chan Hon Goh, prin- ~“cipal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. “Ballet is hard, hard, hard,” says the lithesome beau- ty over alight lunch at Milie West Varicouver..“We're i asking “ ‘our bodies todo the, impossible — jump, defy. gravity, be fluid - — do all of F these amizing things and have grace.” ° ] The 28-year-old ballerina is in Vancouver this sum- mer to teach classes at the Goh Ballet Academy, which her. parents founded in 1979. ‘For Goh, who grew up in West Van ‘and joined the Toronto-based National Ballet when she was 18, this “past season was likely her busiest and most demanding. In the fall she danced the lead in Giselle, which toured southwestern Ontario. © In November she danced the lead role of Tatiana in Onegin, voted by the Globe and Mail as one of the Top 10 performances of 1996. In December she danced the lead, dual role of Sugar, i Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in artistic director James’ Kadulska’s version of the: Nuteracker. In February she laced up for Sleeping Beauty. Also in February, she danced the dz emanding tole of Spring in the National Ballet premiere of -Kadulska’s “Four Seasons, an abstract ballet that uses Vivaldi’ s musi: cal composition as its thenie. ’ In May, she travelled to Vancouver with the National Ballet for the Karen Kain Farewell Tour. Also in May, she travelled to Washington, D.C. to dance at the Kennedy .Centre, performing with Rex ‘Harrington the pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet ata Bala in honor of the Washington Ballet's 20th anniver- sary. If that isn’t enough, she also has a wedding to phn. " On Aug, 29 in Toronzo she will marry Che Chun, baller master of Toronto's Ballet Jorgen and former vice-prin- cipal of the Goh Ballet Academy. Needless to say,:dance-filled days keep her on he toes. How does she convey the realities of a busy baller na’s life to her young charges? “One has.to be realistic,” she says, but it’s not a teacher's place to say toa lesser ight: “No; you'll nor become a dancer.”: Instead, she’s there as a motivating force and to help * students reach their potential. Dancers ‘must recognize their weak points and constantly work on chem, she says. At 5°4” and 95 pounds, Gob appears to be built for ‘ballet. Bur she’s the first to admit her imperfections. “It’s not like I was born “with rubber legs,” she. says, Perfecting her turn-out is always a challenge. Strong ankles have been a plus for pointe work but she’s. not been without injury. She’s suffered stress fractures in her feet.and most recently has been bothered by’ a sore Achilles tendon, which by sesson’s end was exacerbated by a demanding performance schedule. Though athleticism is what helps a dancer endure the rigors of rehearsals and performance, it’s the art of the ballet that Goh loves best. To rake on a role, learn the character and then “to put a fittle bit of yourself in it” so that each performance is not.a carbon-copy of the one that came before. “It’s about fine-tuning all the time,” says Goh. “I want the audieace to know that my heart - and soul is in it.” : : : LAURIE Bean of North and West ~ Star article publis ” for the _ can't afford 'a° new. pair wrap, their old ones with‘duct tape: _and wear the EACH ballerina has a . Strange shoe ritual that - keeps her-on her toes. As :detailed in-a Toronto hed April. 27, 1995: “Some break the shoe ' in by slamming a door on it. Others ‘put shellac’ in. their’ ” shoes-and bake: them.:in the oven for two hours. “There are those who use ” Purure floor wax to harden th _ Shoe. A few artistic alchemis mix: rubbing alcohol’ with resins and pour the result into | their handcrafted satin shoes.” -Chan Hon Goh’s special routine, the article divulges, is to flatten the toe witha ham mer to take the sound, ou bend the shoes in places sm then powder them with make- * . up to dull the shine. |. * t Pointe shoes, at uptvards of. $80 a pair, are a costly pur- chase. Goh- goes - through .. three pairs each performance and one per rehearsal. She and * the: other dancers ‘at’ the: Ballet have their. rovided but most % ancers aren’t so lucky. National shoes young ( Ballet's shoes, Thosé who on the wrong, foot in an attempt to extend their wear. With | this. in mind, Goh ©. cand her fiance are marketing ‘Principal Shoes, pointe and soti. shoes /designed by the dancers themselves and ma&ne- factured’ in’ China, They’re priced 10% to 30% below other fines and sold ‘through ‘ the volunteer-run store at th National Ballet’s performance centre in Toronto. Proceeds from the sale of the.shoes ben:, efit National Ballet School ° productions. — Layne brisensen Vancouver Emergency Program sug- gests the following 10 things you can do to prepare for an earthquake: 1. Find a “safe place” in each room of your home and practice “Drop/Cover/Hold.” Identify hazards inside and outside your home: 3. Pur shoes and a flashlight under each bed. 4. Prepare a three-day emergency food menu; start purchases and store properly. . Store a three-day supply of bottled water. Date the bottles and store properly. 6. Consider alternate cooking methods. 7. Store warm protective clothing for each fam- ily member. 8. Consider taking a first-aid course. 9. Begin putting together a family emergency kit. 10. Take part in a North Shore Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness course to find out how to do all of the above and more. Call 983- 7440 for information, The valle of your. dondions i is - eased mmore th than Just d dollars. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield RESIDENTS should know how to shut off natural gas. It’s one of many things emergency program workers like. Laurie Bean teach. '