I would like to share a magnificent oil painting featuring the male and female lead ballet dancers of the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT), who posed for this artwork in front of the City Hall main entrance door at the top of a flight of marble stairs. It took place before the massive historical heritage building became the home of Singapore’s first National Art Gallery.
This painting in my collection is larger than life and measures more than 8 ft vertically. At their peak performance, the working life of ballet dancers is usually short for most. Once they cannot maintain their prime performance, they would serve in other capacities, such as coaching the younger dancers, leading other dancers in routine exercises to improve strength and technique, or teaching ballet students. A gifted few may become resident choreographers to create new dances and enlarge the performance repertoire of the dance company. Therefore, the two dancers in the painting are no longer with the SDT.
The artist who created this beautiful and realistic artwork was a great friend of mine and a brilliant artist, YJ Cheng, from Tianjin, China. He studied in Vienna for several years before coming to Singapore. His paintings were in great demand during the two decades he lived in Singapore. He received many commissions to paint for avid and wealthy art collectors from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, US and Europe, and China. An art museum has been established in his name in Tianjin to display his artworks。
Tan It Koon
Before retirement, Dr Tan It Koon was, among many appointments, Head of Clinical Biochemistry at SGH’s Dept of Pathology. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust and Chairman for Grants and Scholarships of the Spore Cultural Foundation. He received the National Day Awards, PBM, and PPA, for his contribution to cultural and community development and excellence in Public Administration.
