MALAYSIANSKINI | At age 16, Jeremie Gan made the difficult decision to leave home to go to New Zealand for his diploma studies in dance.

“It all stemmed from a scholarship that I got at the age of 11 for a week’s summer school programme in Melbourne. After that week, I told my mum I wanted to pursue dance professionally and she encouraged me, leading to international competition in Hong Kong at 15 (Asian Grand Prix) and obtaining a place at the New Zealand School of Dance for the following year in 2014,” said Malaysian-born Gan, who is now a ballerino at the prestigious Singapore Ballet.

“The journey has been amazing, to say the least. Pursuing dance has opened up so many opportunities for me and allowed me to network with so many incredible individuals from a myriad of backgrounds and industries. I will always be grateful for dance for providing me with such an amazing journey thus far,” said Gan.

He had just finished performing...