Sunny Low (; 1940 – 8 May 2022) was a Singaporean ballroom dancer and choreographer. The son of a local ballroom dancing pioneer, he began dancing as a teenager and later established his own dance studio.

Early life

Sunny Low was born to Low Poh San, who founded the Poh San Dance Studio in 1937 and is credited with introducing

ballroom dancing Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

to Singapore, and his wife Jenny (née Quek). Sunny had six siblings and was the eldest son in the family. He attended

Outram Secondary School Outram Secondary School is a co-educational government secondary school in Singapore. Founded in 1906 as Outram Road School, and later Outram School, it is one of the oldest schools in Singapore. It is also the only government school in Singapore ...

and began dancing at the age of 14.

Career

Low formally assumed leadership of his father's dance studio in 1955. In September 1957, together with his sister, Betty, Low won the first calypso dance contest in Singapore. A year later, Low and his sister were dubbed the "King and Queen of Cha-Cha-Cha and Rock 'n' Roll" by the International Society of Teachers of Dancing. In 1967, Low starred in a televised talent show titled ''Pestarama'' that was produced by Tony Yeow and broadcast weekly on TV Singapura. The same year, Low briefly worked as a dance choreographer for the Hong Kong television broadcasting company

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

. In 1969, Low established the Sunny Low Dancers with Aleena Tan as the lead dancer. Low and Tan would then establish the Sunny Low Dance Studio in 1986. Both of them were also founding members of the Singapore Ballroom Dance Teachers Association. The Singapore International Ballroom Dancing Championships, which Low and Tan first organised in 1987, was held annually for 26 years.

Personal life and death

Low married Aleena Tan (born 1955) in 1989. They had four sons: Alvyn, Melvyn, Kelvyn, and Jovyn. Low's father died of a heart attack on 31 December 2003, aged 91. Low himself died of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on 8 May 2022, aged 82. He was survived by his wife, three of his four children, seven grandchildren, including singer and actress

Tasha Low Natasha Low Yi Ling ( zh, 刘怡伶, ko, 유이영, born 11 October 1993), better known by her stage name, Tasha Low ( ko, 타샤), is a Singaporean singer and actress. She was the leader of the South Korean girl group, Skarf from 2012 to 201 ...

, and seven great-grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Sunny 1940 births 2022 deaths Singaporean dancers 20th-century Singaporean people 21st-century Singaporean people