Sunny Low
{{Short description|Singaporean choreographer (c. 1940–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sunny Low
刘山尼{{Cite web |author=李亦筠 |date=2022-05-12 |title=刘怡伶发文追悼 想念舞王爷爷的拥抱 |url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20220512-1271800 |language=zh-sg |publisher=联合早报 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807040835/https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20220512-1271800 |archive-date=2022-08-07 |access-date=2022-08-07}}
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{circa}} 1940
| birth_place = Singapore
| father = Low Poh San
| mother = Jenny Quek
| spouse = {{marriage|Aleena Tan|1989}}
| children = Alvyn Low
Melvyn Low
Kelvyn Low
Jovyn Low
| relations = Tasha Low (granddaughter)
| death_date = 8 May 2022 (aged 82)
| death_place = Singapore
| nationality =
| other_names =
| education = Outram Secondary School
| occupation = Ballroom dancer and Choreographer
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Sunny Low ({{zh|c=刘山尼|p=Liú Shānní}}; {{circa}} 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 to Singapore, and his wife Jenny (née Quek).{{cite episode|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha3gNWwD6z8|title=Dancing to your parents' beat|network=Channel News Asia|date=30 November 2019|series=On The Red Dot|accessdate=13 May 2022}} Sunny had six siblings and was the eldest son in the family.{{cite news|title=Dance, baby dance|first=Desmond|last=Foo|date=24 September 2006|newspaper=The Straits Times|page=L10}} He attended Outram Secondary School and began dancing at the age of 14.{{cite news|newspaper=8 Days|url=https://www.8days.sg/entertainment/local/tasha-low-grandfather-sunny-low-death-634386|title=Actress Tasha Low Mourns Passing Of Grandfather, Singapore Ballroom Dancing Legend Sunny Low|first=Ziyi|last=Toh|date=12 May 2022}}{{cite news|first=Clara|last=Chong|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ballroom-dancing-veteran-sunny-low-passes-on-at-82|title=Ballroom dancing veteran Sunny Low dies at 82|date=12 May 2022|newspaper=The Straits Times}}
Career
Low formally assumed leadership of his father's dance studio in 1955.{{cite news|title=Dancing schools are alive and swinging|page=10|newspaper=New Nation|date=20 June 1979}} In September 1957, together with his sister, Betty, Low won the first calypso dance contest in Singapore.{{cite news|title=These Two Calypsoed Their Way to Victory|newspaper=Singapore Standard|date=9 September 1957|page=3}} 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.{{cite news|title=Sunny's dream come true|page=7|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=3 January 1986}}
In 1967, Low starred in a televised talent show titled Pestarama that was produced by Tony Yeow and broadcast weekly on TV Singapura.{{cite news|title=Pestarama|newspaper=Eastern Sun|page=12|date=25 April 1967}} The same year, Low briefly worked as a dance choreographer for the Hong Kong television broadcasting company TVB.{{cite news|page=13|title=Local dancer joins HK TV company|newspaper=Eastern Sun|date=11 November 1967}}
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.{{cite news |date=30 January 1997 |title=Dancing queen |page=35 |newspaper=The New Paper}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/life/one-last-dance-in-tribute-to-local-ballroom-legend-sunny-low|title=One last dance in tribute to local ballroom legend Sunny Low|first=Yamini|last=Chinnuswamy|date=13 May 2022|newspaper=The Straits Times}}
Personal life and death
Low married Aleena Tan (born {{circa}} 1955) in 1989. They had four sons: Alvyn, Melvyn, Kelvyn, and Jovyn.{{cite news|title=4th-generation dancers|newspaper=The New Paper|date=1 May 2003|page=13}} Low's father died of a heart attack on 31 December 2003, aged 91.{{cite news|newspaper=The New Paper|title=Farewell to a dance legend|page=11|date=1 January 2004|last=Mohamed Yusof|first=Zaihan}} Low himself died of a brain hemorrhage 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, and seven great-grandchildren.