Beyond the Dance: A Ballerina's Life

Shortlisted for the Rocky Mountain Book Award

Nominated for The Rocky Mountain Book Award (An Alberta Children's Choice Book Award)

Nominated for the 2003 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction

An elegant, expressive dancer, Chan Hon Goh is one of the ballet world’s great stars. She is a brilliant technician possessing a delicate beauty and radiant stage presence. Born in Beijing to dancer parents, she tells the story of their flight to Canada from an oppressive regime that thwarted her father’s career, her rigorous training, and her battle to achieve acceptance as the only Chinese-born prima ballerina in the history of the National Ballet.

This fascinating look at the life of a dancer will appeal not only to the legions of Chan Hon Goh’s admirers and to students of ballet, but also to young readers who understand what it is to pursue a dream.

Shortlisted for the Rocky Mountain Book Award

Nominated for The Rocky Mountain Book Award (An Alberta Children's Choice Book Award)

Nominated for the 2003 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction


An elegant, expressive dancer, Chan Hon Goh is one of the ballet world’s great stars. She is a brilliant technician possessing a delicate beauty and radiant stage presence. Born in Beijing to dancer parents, she tells the story of their flight to Canada from an oppressive regime that thwarted her father’s career, her rigorous training, and her battle to achieve acceptance as the only Chinese-born prima
ballerina in the history of the National Ballet.

This fascinating look at the life of a dancer will appeal not only to the legions of Chan Hon Goh’s admirers and to students of ballet, but also to young readers who understand what it is to pursue a dream.

Ann Welton - VOYA

In this light and frothy little biography-photo essay by Goh, a prima ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada, the reader gets a sunny view of the road to success in a high-stress, highly selective profession. The daughter of two prominent Western-trained Chinese ballet dancers, Goh emigrated to Canada with her family when she was eight, the year before she began serious dance training. Although her parents, who ran a prestigious Vancouver ballet studio, initially considered her one of their less-talented dancers, Goh made finalist at the Prix de Lausanne competition the year she was seventeen. From there, her career took off. This book is all about Goh, to be sure sure, and the "prima" certainly applies to this dancer. Nevertheless, given the positive tone of the highly readable text and the frequent lovely black-and-white photos that extend it, middle and junior high school balletomanes will snap this up. Photos. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, Tundra, 152p,

Chan Hon Goh is one of the National Ballet of Canada’s leading stars. To her many roles, she brings emotional depth and touching vulnerability. As a guest artist, Ms. Goh has been invited to dance with some of the world’s leading companies in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Cary Fagan is a writer of fiction for both young readers and adults, and a contributor to several magazines and newspapers. His work has garnered him the City of Toronto Book Award and the Jewish Book Committee Prize for Fiction. His most recent children’s book is Daughter of the Great Zandini. Mr. Fagan lives in Toronto.