Choo San Goh

Goh Choo San (Chinese: 吴诸珊; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ngôo Tsu-suan; 14 September 1948 – 28 November 1987) was a Chinese ballet dancer and choreographer. He was the son of Kim Lok Goh, a merchant, and Siew Han Ch’ng.

Goh was the youngest of nine children. His Chinese parents spoke Mandarin and the family was brought up with very traditional values. Goh was influenced by and followed in the path of three of his older siblings to train as a dancer. Performance tours to Singapore from overseas ballet companies stimulated their interest in dance.

His elder sister Soonee Goh 吴素妮 trained at the Royal Ballet School in London and returned to Singapore to co-found the Singapore Ballet Academy. His elder brother Choo Chiat Goh 吴诸杰 also trained at the Royal Ballet, later became a principal dancer in the Beijing Ballet, and is the artistic director of the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, British Columbia. Another sister, Soo Khim Goh 吴素琴, trained at the Australian Ballet and co-founded Singapore Dance Theatre in 1988.

Goh went to school at the Nanyang Primary School and proceeded to Raffles Institution. Goh’s earliest desire was to become an airline pilot, but his studies in ballet, taught by his sister, Soonee Goh, led him towards his eventual career path as a dancer. At his father’s insistence, he first completed his University education and graduated with a degree in Bio-chemistry from the University of Singapore.

In 1970 Goh travelled to Europe in hope of finding a position in a ballet company and was offered a place with the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam after first dancing in Lausanne, Switzerland and with the Scarpino Ballet in Amsterdam. The company had a rich blend of classical and contemporary choreography. Goh joined as a member of the corps de ballet and was eventually elevated to soloist with the company during his five years with the company. He excelled in works by the company’s resident choreographers, Toer van Schayk and Rudi van Dantzig, as well as in works by Balanchine and Petipa.

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