Choo Chiat and Lin Yee Goh

Choo Chiat Goh and his wife Lin Yee Goh are Co-Founders of  the Goh Ballet Academy.  Under their leadership, the Academy has flourished to become an internationally renowned institution, with alumni dancers advancing professionally worldwide and winning prestigious competitions.

Mr. Goh began his training as a dancer at London’s Royal Ballet. At age 16, he moved to Beijing to study with the Russian ballet master, Pyotr Gusiev.  He joined the Central Ballet of China in 1959, becoming Principal Dancer. His dancing repertoire includes leading roles in many classics.  During the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Goh broke new ground by creating lead roles in The Red Detachment of Women and The White Haired Girl.

Lin Yee Goh’s early training was at the Beijing Dance Academy, under Russian masters Elenna Sergeivitski and Nikolai Romancheva . Upon graduation, she was invited to join the Central Ballet of China, where she danced for nearly two decades and became one of the Company’s Ballet Mistresses.

In 1976, Mr. Goh immigrated to Canada with a dream of starting his ownballet company. His wife joined him 1977. That year they started the Goh Ballet Academy.  They embarked on a mission to establish a ballet academy of the highest standards, recognized all over the world. Through passion, talent, faith and hard work, this was achieved, cementing the school as one of the best in the world. The Academy has collaborated with ballet luminaries, such as Anna Marie Holmes, Evelyn Hart and Rex Harrington and has toured and arranged collaborative productions with other ballet companies in Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States.

Both he and his wife were presented with the 2003 City of Vancouver Civic Merit Award and the 2006 BC Community Achievement Award.