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CULTURE
Cana-dance
Yvonne Ng is a dancer, choreographer and curator Immigration matters could be trickyof this summer’s Dance: Made in Canada festival Reach an Expert
By Lisa Evans
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Yvonne Ng almost didn’t become a dancer. Born in Singapore, the awardwinning dancer, choreographer and producer came to Canada in 1983 to study hotel and catering management. “I knew I wanted to be in the arts,” admits Ng, but her father was against her pursuing an arts-related career.
“He said dance should only be a hobby,” recalls Ng, who started ballet school at four years old. But, once in Canada on a student visa, Ng gave into temptation and auditioned for York University’s dance department; she was accepted into the program. Although thrilled to have her talent recognized, Ng was also terrified of telling her father she’d changed her career path to pursue dance.
That summer, she went home, but was still afraid to tell her parents. “For a whole month, I felt like I had a lump in my throat because I felt I couldn’t tell my dad,” she recalls. When she returned to Canada, she wrote her parents a long letter justifying why she wanted to pursue the
arts. “I didn’t hear from them for a long time,” she says. Eventually her parents did phone her and although they weren’t thrilled with her decision, they accepted their daughter’s change of plans. “I do believe that they are proud of me and happy with where I’m at,” she says, pausing to add, “I’m not sure to this day they know how to describe what I do.” In her final year of study at York University, Ng started a Immigration matters could be tricky Reach an Expert dance company called Dance Allegro with two other dance students as an independent study, to experience what it would be like to create, administer and produce shows. The trio continued the company into the late 1980s until one of the co-founders decided to move to New York. Ng then founded Tiger Princess Dance Projects in 1995 under the umbrella of Princess Productions. The name was chosen to reflect Ng’s unique Immigration matters could be tricky experience as an immigrant to Canada and a visual minority. Ng Reach an Expert became well-known in the Canadian dance community as both a Neera Agnihotri talented contemporary dancer, Certified Canadian Immigration Consultants and Members of CSIC, CMI, CapIC Graduates of the UBC Immigration practitioner Certificate program Member CSIC M064140 Immigration matters could be tricky We provide all immigration services Reach an Expert Federal Skilled Worker Arranged Employment Canadian Experience Class Immigration matters could be tricky Provincial Nominee Programs Reach an Expert Business and Investor Family Class Sponsorships Permanent Residence Card Applications Citizenship Applications Passport Applications US Visitor Visa Applications Work Permits, Student Visas & Visitor Visas
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Yvonne Ng in performance.
producer and most recently as a choreographer.
In 2001, she became the curator of Dance: Made in Canada, a bi-annual festival that produces the work of choreographers from across Canada. “I realized that there were a number of artists that I really loved and I wanted to give them a platform,” she says. This year, the Toronto festival will take place Aug. 13-16 at the Betty Oliphant Theatre.
For Ng, the festival mirrors her background of being inclusive. Growing up in Singapore, a country comprised of many different nationalities — Chinese, Malaysian, Indian — and now living in Canada, Ng understands the value of a multicultural society. “The festival is a reflection of how I see the interconnectedness of our lives,” she says. By highlighting artists who are themselves immigrants as well as Canadian-born, the festival touches on the beauty of Cana-
Photos by Brianna Lombardo
da’s multicultural environment.
Although Ng has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Soulpepper Community Arts Award, a Dora Award for best performance and the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, she laughs when asked if she thinks of herself as a success. “I never think of it as successful, but I think of it as a pretty fortunate life,” she says, adding it took perseverance and a lot of motivation to get to where she is today.
“You make the life you want to live,” she says, highlighting this is particularly true for immigrants who have to forge their paths in their new country from scratch, often without family support. “I have a long list of things I want to do all the time,” Ng says, arguing she hasn’t reached the peak of her career yet. “I guess success is when I wake up in the morning and my body doesn’t ache,” she jokes.
