“You Were Speaking Through Your Dances on Stage.” New York’s Shushi Dance Ensemble Performs in Gyumri
On Friday, 9 August 2019, under the auspices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, the “Shushi” Armenian dance ensemble, operating under the patronage of St. Vartan Cathedral in New York, gave a special performance in Gyumri.
The concert, dedicated to the great Komitas and titled “Komitas Now and Forever,” also featured the participation of the “Narekatsi Orchestra” under the artistic direction of Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia Armen Khachaturian, soloists Anahit Zakaryan (USA) and Murat Malkhasyan, and renowned reciter, Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia Samuel Baginyan.
With a patriotic mission to move the audience, instill a national character and draw from national roots, and with high-level performance, the students of the “Shushi” dance ensemble presented the great Komitas through a beautiful and soul-stirring performance, captivating and gifting a bright evening to Gyumri’s art- and culture-loving public.
In honor of the meticulously crafted productions of the founder and artistic director of the “Shushi” dance ensemble, choreographer Mrs. Seda Paskalian Kantarjian, the ensemble presented the public with a diverse, rich and charming dance program and succeeded in filling those present with memorable moments of artistic enjoyment.
Beyond the dance performances, the audience also highly appreciated the ensemble’s distinctive taste in costumes and musical arrangement, as well as the dancers’ enthusiasm.
Among the audience was Honored Art Worker, dancer of the State Philharmonic and longtime theater director Edward Boghosyan, who, expressing his admiration for the ensemble’s students and those responsible, expressed surprise at how, given local conditions and the possibility of rehearsing only once a week, it had been possible to produce such a high-quality and professional group.
“On stage it was perfectly clear what you wanted to say, what you were dancing for; your performance was not merely a sequence of movements — you were speaking, you were dancing, there was patriotism in your dance,” he said, and concluding his remarks added, “We do not have a group like yours in Armenia. Well done to you, long may you live.”
The concert, held at Gyumri’s Regional Cultural Center, will remain unforgettable in the memory of the people of Gyumri, and their high praise and thunderous applause will impart renewed strength and vigor to the youth and young adults of the “Shushi” ensemble in their commitment to remaining attached to their Armenian roots on distant shores and keeping Armenian culture alive.
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