21:03,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. In the medal standings of the European Weightlifting Championships for men held in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, the Armenian national team has secured the second place.
The Armenian team has won 9 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals.
The Bulgarian team has taken the first place with 11 gold medals.
From left: Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian, Board of Trustees Member Dr. Nazareth Darakjian, Board of Trustees Co-Treasurer Avedik Izmirlian, Board of Trustees Co-Treasurer Talin Yacoubian, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Bishop Mikael Mouradian, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Board of Trustees Rep. Very Rev. Fr. Zareh Sarkissian, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian, Board of Trustees Member Krikor Moloyan, Executive Vice Chairman Zaven Kazazian, Executive Director Shant Sahakian
GLENDALE—The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California hosted a Beam Signing Ceremony to commemorate the installation of the first structural steel beams at the construction site of the highly anticipated cultural and educational center.
Communications Director Arsine Torosyan officially kicked off the ceremony by welcoming museum, government, and community leaders to the museum construction site where the towering structural steel framing is beginning to take shape.
The ceremony featured spirited remarks by representatives of the Board of Trustees including Co-Chair Archbishop Hovnan Derderian representing the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, Co-Chair Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian representing the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, Co-Chair Bishop Mikael Mouradian representing the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of the United States and Canada, and Very Rev. Fr. Zareh Sarkissian representing the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.
From left: Glendale Councilmember Elen Asatryan, Glendale Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian, Glendale Mayor Daniel Brotman Glendale, Councilmember Paula Devine, Glendale City Manager Roubik Golanian
“The Armenian American Museum will soon become a staple of the City of Glendale and we celebrate this significant day with our entire community,” stated Glendale Mayor Daniel Brotman in remarks on behalf of the City of Glendale. The Mayor was joined by Councilmember Paula Devine, Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian, and Councilmember Elen Asatryan as well as City Manager Roubik Golanian.
“The exciting milestone of elevating the first structural steel beams is thanks to the commitment of our generous donors, sponsors, partners, and community who have come together with a united purpose for a united project,” stated Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian expressing appreciation to the supporters of the museum.
The Beam Signing Ceremony culminated with the ceremonial signing of the pinnacle structural steel beam which will soon be installed and become a permanent fixture of the museum building superstructure. Attendees had the special opportunity to mark the pinnacle structural steel beam with their name and signature. The event kicks off a series of community events to be held at the museum construction site.
“The State of California is a proud supporter of the Armenian American Museum, a landmark center that is going to be a beacon of light that will celebrate our cultural diversity, preserve our history and stories, and serve for generations to come,” said Senator Anthony J. Portantino in a statement following the ceremony.
The highly anticipated cultural and educational center is currently under construction in the museum campus at Glendale Central Park. The first phase of construction featuring the museum parking garage and building foundation has been completed. The second phase of construction featuring the two-level 50,820 square foot museum building superstructure is currently underway.
The mission of the museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience. The museum will offer a wide range of public programming through the Permanent Exhibition, Temporary Exhibitions, Auditorium, Learning Center, Demonstration Kitchen, Archives Center, and more.
Artsakh leaders visit Yerablur National Cemetery on Feb. 20
February 20 marks the anniversary of the beginning of Artsakh’s National Liberation Movement. To mark the occasion, President Samvel Shahramanyan and other exiled leaders of Artsakh visited the Yerablur National Cemetery Tuesday.
The Artsakh Parliament held a special session at the Artsakh representative office in Yerevan, with an agenda of marking the anniversary of the Liberation Movement and discussing issues related to the mass repatriation of the displaced Artsakh Armenians.
Gagik Baghunts, the acting Speaker of the Artsakh Parliament, told Azatutyun.am after the session that the Artsakh leadership is taking “concrete steps” for the eventual repatriation of Artsakh Armenians.
“Our struggle will continue,” Baghunts told Azatutyun.
“The Armenians of Artsakh will not accept the idea that we have closed the page of Artsakh, and the desire to return will always stay with us. I hope that we will have significant success in that direction already in the not-so-distant future,” he added.
“We are taking concrete steps, we will continue to do everything possible so that the Artsakh Armenians return to the homeland, our historical homeland, and I hope that despite my rather old age, I will return, not my grandchildren,” Baghunts said without specifying the steps, only to say that they are ready for “cooperation with world powers” and even “contacts with the Azerbaijani authorities.”
The Deputy Speaker of the Artsakh Parliament, Vahram Balayan, echoed the sentiments of his colleague when he told reporters on Tuesday that the Artsakh chapter of history is not yet closed.
“Today we are in a disillusioned and broken state, but there is a need to use the available opportunities and strengthen Armenia. And in the context of all this, try to continue our further struggle, liberate a part of our historical homeland,” Balayan told reporters.
He also emphasized that the Artsakh issue had no correlation with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, saying the the self-determination of the people of Artsakh, and the struggle that began in 1988, did not seek to lay claim on territory, but rather stemmed from the special status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast during the Soviet Period.
Balayan said that the NKAO had the same status as Azerbaijan SSR did under the Soviet Union, with its own constitution and Armenian as its state language.
“Due to many factors, we could not keep, protect what we had,” said Badalyan about the current fate of Artsakh.
“In general, history is not only a lesson, but also a punishment for all those who do not take the lessons of history into account. Unfortunately, we did not take into account the lessons we learned, we could not preserve our statehood,” he added.
He called the forced exodus of Armenians from Artsakh in September, following Azerbaijan’s large-scale attack, a genocide.
“In reality, it [the attack] was a genocidal act against our people. This is an obvious fact that we must present to the world, and demonstrate that our people have the right to full return [to Artsakh], and must fight to exercise that right,” said Balayan.
“We still have a ways to go. It seems to me that we should not be deprived of existing opportunities, we should continue to work from the viewpoint of ensuring our full return,” added the deputy speaker.
“Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation” book cover
NEW YORK—Tarkmaneal Press announced the release of “Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation” by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen. The volume is the second in the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center’s series Sources from the Armenian Christian Tradition and is available for purchase on Amazon.
St. Nersess the Graceful (Nersēs Shnorhali, 1102–1173 A.D.), = from 1166 until his death in 1173, was one of the great figures of the medieval Armenian Church. His most popular work is the prayer of twenty-four stanzas commonly known as “With Faith I Confess” (“Havadov Khosdovanim”), which has been translated into more than thirty languages. He was also a prolific author and composer of hymns and other poetic works, many of which remain little known today. This volume presents the Armenian text and an English translation of sixty of St. Nersess’s liturgical odes (tagh), fifty-eight of which have never been previously translated into English. These profound songs of praise were composed to enhance the celebration and reflect on the mystery of the various feasts and commemorations that make up the Christian liturgical year. The translation is accompanied by an introduction and extensive annotation, which brings to light the Biblical, theological, and poetic features of these literary treasures, making them accessible to the general reader in the twenty-first century.
Tarkmaneal Press was founded in 2024 by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen with thegoal of bringing bilingual editions of classical Armenian texts with annotated English translations available to a wide audience. Sarkisianis a self-taught translator of Classical Armenian who lives in the Binghamton, New York area. He previously collaborated with Jesse Arlen on an annotated translation of an Armenian prayer scroll (hmayil), published in 2022 by the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Arlenis the director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University. He has published a number of studies on late antique and medieval Christian spirituality and monastic literature.
“St. Nersess Shnorhali, Nersess the Graceful, belongs to the rank of those Church Fathers and Doctors who rightfully can be declared “the lyre of the Holy Spirit.” One of the earliest European Armenologists, the Jesuit Fr. Jacques Villote, admiring the sublime touches of heavenly inspiration emanating from Shnorhali’s verses, called his poetic masterpiece — named in Armenian Յիսուս, Որդի (Jesus, Son) from its incipit — ‘The Divine Elegy.’ Nersess Shnorhali is one of the most exceptional figures in the history of the universal Church for more than one reason, but above all for his passionate search for the unity of the Church, and for his deep understanding, in the wake of St. Gregory of Narek, of the fragility, the conventionality, the inadequacy of human language in speaking of Divine mystery. The Odes in this volume, masterfully translated and commented upon by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen, are among the most vibrant, genuine, and touching expressions of Shnorhali’s spirituality,” said Archbishop Levon Zekiyan, Emeritus Professor of Armenian Studies, Ca’ Foscari, Venice, and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome.
“St. Nersess Shnorhali’s hymns are known for their literary beauty and spiritual sublimity. Sarkisian and Arlen convey both aspects in their mellifluous translation. The substantial annotation they provide further defines their mastery of the classical text,” said Abraham Terian, Emeritus Professor of Armenian Patristics and Theology, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary.
“Thanks to Jesse Arlen and Matthew Sarkisian for this carefully prepared labor of love and learning. They have curated for us a trove of lesser-known, spiritual gems from the vast storehouse of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s writings,” said Roberta Ervine, Professor of Armenian Christian Studies, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary.
Joe Biden made his decisions.
Now I’m making mine.
I will be voting “uncommitted” in Michigan’s February 27 Democratic presidential primary, because I simply cannot vote for the man who armed Azerbaijan’s genocide of Artsakh’s indigenous Armenians. My ballot will represent my protest against his complicity in this crime and his utter abandonment of Armenians – in Artsakh, across Armenia and around the world. His actions run counter to his own campaign statements and, more importantly, to our basic values as a nation – our shared humanity.
I will be casting my “uncommitted” vote along with my fellow Armenians and countless others who share in our outrage over Biden’s genocidal policies. Together, we will send a message that crimes come with costs, and enabling ethnic cleansing is not “business-as-usual.” To cast a vote for Biden is to endorse his actions. To support him as the lesser of two evils is to accept evil. I will not do that.
I am fortunate to live in the Wolverine State, a must-win political battleground in the 2024 presidential contest. If our votes tip the scale against Biden’s re-election, it will send a powerful message that America stands against genocide, that our people will not allow our government to tolerate such crimes. Not in our name.
Biden’s genocidal record is as reckless as it is irresponsible:
– Biden materially armed and morally emboldened Azerbaijan’s genocide of Artsakh.
– Biden has refused to condemn Azerbaijan’s crimes. He conducts business-as-usual with its genocidal government, and he refuses to enforce sanctions against its leaders.
– Biden sent zero aid to Artsakh prior to Azerbaijan’s blockade and has sent almost no aid to the refugees created by Azerbaijan’s aggression.
– Biden blocked United Nations initiatives to condemn Azerbaijan and has, post-genocide, failed to lead, introduce or even support U.N. resolutions to enable the safe return of Armenians to Artsakh under an international mandate.
– Biden has opposed each and every congressional measure aimed at holding Azerbaijan accountable, supporting Artsakh refugees or securing the release of Armenian POWs.
– Add to this that Biden just approved the sale of F-16s to Turkey, even though Turkey illegally deployed these advanced fighters to Azerbaijan during its 2020 attack.
For all these reasons, and many others, I invite my fellow Michiganders to join me in voting “uncommitted” on February 27.
In my previous articles delving into photographs from the ARF Archives, we saw some familiar and unfamiliar visuals from our history and culture over the past century and more. One clear takeaway is that the Armenian people have never lived in a vacuum. Empires have passed over the lands where Armenians have lived. Large-scale conflicts have reverberated among the Armenian people, not least of which the Genocide during the First World War. Armenians themselves have also participated in and helped shape fashions and trends around them – including, not coincidentally, the spread of photography in the Middle East.
Unsurprisingly, then, there are subjects among the photographs in the archives outside of exclusively Armenian circles.
ARF Photo Archives – Box 1, Photo 15
For example, here we have a group photo of Turkish military personnel. Below, more specifically, is one Mustafa Vefa Bey who, it says on the back of the photo, was a spy assassinated in Tiflis (Tbilisi).
ARF Photo Archives – Box 10, Photo 40
The picture below is a bit more mysterious, as it is merely labeled “Turkish Consul” in Armenian on the back – “Turkish Consul.”
ARF Photo Archives – Box 3, Photo 186
This picture does not match the stereotypical visualizations of Turks in Armenian discourse (for which, see the images above). There is something domestic and avuncular about this man, his dog and a granddaughter, perhaps, on a trike.
There are also a number of photographs with Kurdish themes in the collection – many more than Turkish ones. The ARF photo archives reflect a turbulent time in the 1920s and 1930s after the Genocide and the establishment of the USSR and the Republic of Turkey, when Kurdish and Armenian groups collaborated in armed movements. The most significant such uprising was the Ararat Rebellion in the late 1920s, led by the Khoyboun (Xoybûn) party. Below are two of its members.
ARF Photo Archives – Box 10, Photo 47
Ardashes Mouradian, in the picture below, was an ARF agent within that group. He went by Zeynal or Ziylan Bey, and was eventually abducted across the border into the USSR and probably killed on the orders of the Soviet leadership.
ARF Photo Archives – Box 6, Photo 169
Sheikh Mahmoud Barzanji also features in a couple of photographs in the collection.
ARF Photo Archives – Box 10, Photo 37
He was a Kurdish leader in uprisings against British rule in the north of newly-established Iraq in the 1920s. It is not clearly marked in the images, however, what the Armenian or specifically ARF connection might have been with his activities.
This series of brief articles is meant above all to invite you to visit arfarchives.org/photograph. Click around on the website. You might find a fascinating page from your family history or see directly the ups and downs of the Armenian nation in the last hundred-plus years.
The International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA) is pleased to introduce its new advisory board members: Shushan Avagyan, Susan Barba and Anahit Ghazaryan.
Shushan Avagyan (b. 1976) is the author of two experimental novels Girq-anvernagir (A Book, Untitled, 2006) and Zarubyani kanayq (2014), and co-author, with the Queering Yerevan Collective, of Queered: What’s to Be Done with X-Centric Art (2011). She has translated several classics of the early Soviet avant-garde into English, including A Hunt for Optimism, The Hamburg Score, On the Theory of Prose by Viktor Shklovsky (Dalkey Archive Press) and Art and Production by Boris Arvatov (Pluto Press). She revived Shushanik Kurghinian’s work by translating and publishing the bilingual edition I Want to Live: Poems of Shushanik Kurghinian (AIWA Press). Her articles, translations and interviews have appeared in Contemporary Women’s Writing, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Asymptote, InTranslation, The International Literary Quarterly, Music and Literature, Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere.
Avagyan grew up in Soviet Armenia and lived in Zambia and Ethiopia with her parents who taught there as part of the Soviet Teach Abroad Program. After graduating from Khachik Dashtents School in Yerevan, she went to study at the Melkonian Educational Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus. She received her undergraduate degree in studio art with a focus on printmaking and book arts from Cedar Crest College, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in English studies from Illinois State University. She lives in Yerevan and teaches at the American University of Armenia, where she coordinates the Certificate in Translation program.
Susan Barba is the author of Fair Sun, winner of the Anahid Literary Award and the Minas & Kohar Tölölyan Prize, and geode, a finalist for the New England Book Awards and the Massachusetts Book Awards. She is a co-editor, with Victoria Rowe, of I Want to Live: Poems of Shushanik Kurghinian, and the editor of American Wildflowers: A Literary Field Guide, which won the 2023 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, Poetry, The New Republic and elsewhere, and her poems have been translated into Armenian, German, Swedish and Romanian. She earned her doctorate in comparative literature from Harvard University, and she has received fellowships from MacDowell and Yaddo. She works as a senior editor for New York Review Books. Learn more by visiting www.susanbarba.net
Anahit Ghazaryan is a writer, visual artist and researcher from Yerevan, Armenia. In the last several years, Ghazaryan has worked with text, audio and visual materials, including photography, and most recently with documentary theater play and film. Ghazaryan was the co-producer of the Akanjogh Podcast (2019-2021), the first podcast on feminism in Armenia. Additionally, Ghazaryan has co-authored two books. The first book, Border-play | The Armenian and the Armenian, is a discussion about the relationship between two language backgrounds, Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. Her second book Dark Matter: Notes on War came out in November 2022 and chronicles a painful, honest conversation between two friends, providing an unfiltered perspective on the personal impacts of war.
Ghazaryan has been researching the life and work of Maryam Shahinyan (1911-1996), the first woman professional studio photographer in the Republic of Turkey, for more than six years. In 2021, she curated an exhibition of Shahinyan’s original photos that she found and collected during her time in Istanbul at the 4Plus Documentary Photography Center in Yerevan. In 2022, she completed the production of “Foto Galatasaray,” a full-length documentary on Shahinyan’s life and work. The film is currently in post-production. In 2023, Ghazaryan, as a playwright, created a Documentary Performance titled “Planned Outage,” delving into the nostalgic childhood memories of those born after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Currently, she is working on a new documentary performance exploring dating culture in Armenia.
IALA supports and celebrates writers by fostering the development and distribution of Armenian literature in the English language. Founded in 2021, IALA develops emerging Armenian writers, supports established authors, promotes Armenian literature and fosters intercultural exchange. IALA’s annual programs include grants in translation and creative writing, a mentorship program for emerging writers and the Young Armenian Poets Awards, which lifts up the next generation of Armenian writers. You can learn more on www.armenianliterary.org.
The International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA), the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center are pleased to invite you to the second event of their 2024 reading series, Literary Lights, featuring Ariel Djanikian, author of the Barnes & Noble October 2023 book selection, The Prospectors. Djanikian will be joined by Aline Ohanesian, author of the critically acclaimed novel, Orhan’s Inheritance. The event will take place virtually on March 9, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific | 1:00 p.m. Eastern | 10:00 p.m. Armenia time. Register here.
Bringing the Klondike and turn-of-the-century California to vivid life, Djanikian weaves an ambitious narrative of claiming the American Dream and its rippling effects across generations. Sweeping and awe-inspiring, The Prospectors is an unforgettable story of family loyalties that interrogates the often-overlooked hostilities and inequities born during the Gold Rush era. Learn more about the novel.
Ariel Djanikian was born in Philadelphia and attended the University of Pennsylvania. She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan and is the previous recipient of a Fulbright grant, Meijer Fellowship, Cowden Award and Hopwood Award. She is the author of the novel The Office of Mercy, and her writing has appeared in Tin House, Alaska Quarterly Review, Glimmer Train, The Millions and The Rumpus. She currently lives near D.C. with her husband and children and teaches fiction writing at Georgetown University.Aline Ohanesian is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Orhan’s Inheritance, which was long listed for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, a Summer 2015 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, an April 2014 Indie Next pick and an Amazon Top 25 pick for 2015. The novel was also a finalist for the PEN Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction and has been translated into 13 languages. She lives and writes in San Juan Capistrano, California with her husband and two young sons.
Literary Lights 2024 is a monthly reading series organized by IALA, NAASR and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Each event, held online, will feature a writer reading from their work, followed by a discussion with an interviewer and audience members. Keep an eye on our website and socials for the exact dates of each event. Read along with the series by purchasing titles from the IALA Bookstore or the NAASR Bookstore.
JERUSALEM—On February 18, the Armenian community of the historic Armenian Quarter officially filed a lawsuit to invalidate the lease between the Armenian Patriarchate and Xana Capital.
The community’s legal action asserts that the property is held in trust specifically for the benefit of the Armenian community pursuant to a waqf trust established more than 400 years ago. Under the waqf trust, which is legally enforceable, the property cannot be leased or sold by the Patriarchate if the transaction does not inure to the direct benefit of the Armenian community and if the transaction is not consented to by the Armenian community. Here, the transaction has neither been consented to by the Armenian community nor does it inure to the benefit of the Armenian community.
The Armenian community’s position aligns squarely with the stance of the Saint James Brotherhood. In 2021, 17 members of the Brotherhood, a majority of the members of the supreme body of the Patriarchate, issued a statement publicly opposing the deal and declaring that the Patriarch lacked the requisite authority and conditions to execute the purported agreement. As such, the Armenian community’s legal case underlines the Patriarchate’s lack of authority to enter into this specific deal.
The community’s lawsuit gives necessary legal voice and crucial legal strength to the objective of canceling the purported agreement and protecting the land – a goal the Armenian community, the Armenian Patriarchate and the global Armenian diaspora share. The Armenian community has specific rights that must be raised and protected by the Armenian community itself. This land holds immense historical and cultural significance, symbolizing the community’s and the Patriarchate’s enduring presence in the region, and the community is committed to preserving the integrity of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem and protecting itself from the existential threat posed by this purported deal with Xana Capital.
Since the community learned of the illegal lease, community members had weekly demonstrations to vocalize their stance against the deal. The community has remained on the ground for over 100 days, camping in tents 24/7 to defend against physical threats and attacks on the land. The community understands that its very survival hinges on protecting this land. It now presses forward to enforce its historic rights on the land itself and to confirm the invalidity of the lease in the District Court of Jerusalem. Importantly, the community’s lawsuit bolsters the Patriarchate’s existing lawsuit with crucial arguments that are within the community’s rights in order to halt this attack on the community’s historic presence, heritage and existence in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Armenian community of Jerusalem stands as one united voice. It stands together for the principle that only justice will suffice. It stands firmly on the belief that the lack of transparency and collaboration with the community is what has brought the Armenian Quarter to this existential moment – and that it is enough. The community will fight until the end to ensure that the Armenian Quarter remains untouched, that it remains Armenian and that it remains for the benefit of the Armenian people. These are the very principles that have united the global Armenian world – and our allies who understand the value of that unique mosaic that is the Old City of Jerusalem – to save the Armenian Quarter.
The community has been committed to carrying out this powerfully unifying mandate on the ground, and it is now establishing its legal rights in the courts. Hundreds of community members have signed in support of the legal fight to protect their historic rights and to protect this crucial property that has served the Armenian community for generations over the centuries, from a place for sustenance and social life to a refuge to house Armenian Genocide survivors, to providing access to the people to their schools, churches and community institutions. The Armenian community will stand in defense of its rights on the ground and in the courts.
The community insists that the parties to the lawsuit, and those under their direction, refrain from any and all retaliatory measures against community members. To this end, the people ask the international community to remain vigilant, to stand with the Armenian community against any such threats and to continue to voice their support for the Armenian community in its unwavering commitment to protect the Cows’ Garden, to protect the rights of the Armenian community and to protect the very future of the Armenian people in Jerusalem.
Every year, my school, Bergen County Academies (BCA), holds an assembly titled “International Day of Acceptance” (IDA). This student-facilitated performance is a blend of cultures and backgrounds coming together to bring light to our multicultural community in Hackensack, New Jersey. Following months of preparation – including emails, auditions, practices, dress rehearsals and wardrobe procurement – student groups perform for their fellow students and faculty. Each group receives around five minutes total for their performance, including an introduction to the culture followed by the dance performance. Student leaders choose the melodies, along with choreographing, coordinating and preparing the performances.
One main emphasis of this assembly is that a student does not need to be a part of a certain ethnicity to join their group. For instance, in my freshman year I chose to perform as part of the Hispanic IDA, dancing styles such as bachata, samba and merengue. Without any Hispanic dance background and just a pure interest in Hispanic culture, I enjoyed getting on stage to perform these various dances. Consequently, I returned the next year as a sophomore and now in my junior year as a co-leader.
While I have enjoyed my time in other groups, since freshman year I have always thought about what it would be like to have my Armenian culture on the BCA stage. There are just a few students with Armenian backgrounds at BCA, probably just six at most throughout all four grades. However, while our numbers are small, my culture is so grand in my heart that it pushed my desire to be represented at the IDA assembly. Just because there is small representation in my school environment, that does not mean that the students shouldn’t learn about our long history of arts and customs. Especially with recent events, and the resilience of Armenians in Armenia and Artsakh alike, it was crucial that I took this step. I put my thoughts into action, and this year I led the first ever Armenian IDA performance along with the help of another fellow Armenian classmate, Heidi Borekciyan.
Heidi Borekciyan and Seta Sahagian
It started with an interest email, the first step in bringing this idea to life. Then came recruitment, gathering my friends of all backgrounds to join. I expressed that this performance was more than a dance and has deeper meaning rooted in our fight as a nation. Then came the practices, staying after school on Tuesday evenings to learn choreography. I decided to combine six different Armenian melodies, including slow rhythms and fast beats. I wanted to capture the full Armenian spectrum, showing the beauty of our instruments that shine through in slower songs and the firm, upbeat nature of our battle or party dances. The choreography included songs from music geniuses such as Ara Gevorgian, Tata Simonyan and Karnig Sarkissian.
During practices, as we went through the various styles, I would ask students which they liked the best. Many of my friends would say the “shoorch bars,” as they linked pinkies to dance in unison. As a young Armenian, these dances have been a large part of my life, whether at camp, Armenian dances or celebrations. To hear my “odar” (non-Armenian) friends say this made me realize how they can learn about the other half of my life. These friends said, “Now we can do this at your birthday,” or “I remember seeing you do this dance; now we can too.” With all my non-Armenian friends, I will certainly be playing some “Anapati Arev” at our next outing.
As the performance neared, a lot of attention was placed on cleaning up formations and moves and our appearance on stage. This is where outfits came into question. Outfits would be crucial to fully showcasing the beauty of Armenian dance. I crafted a letter to send via email to various Armenian dance groups to borrow outfits for the performance. As these are important pieces in many groups’ performances, I promised that they would be kept in good condition, and any damage caused by the students would be corrected through payment. Looking to my Armenian community, I hoped that these groups would see the message I was trying to spread within my school walls. Unfortunately, I was faced with blank stares and barriers. Everyone either sought hundreds of dollars, which was not feasible for a student group, or did not respond to our inquiry.
This experience taught me a great deal about the power of a few – a few thoughts and then a few Armenians coming together to attempt the growth of an idea. A few conversations with my friends turned into dancing together on stage in traditional Armenian dress.
Finally, shortly before the performance, I received an affirmative response. Sylva Asadourian from the Akh’tamar Dance Ensemble graciously allowed us to borrow about two dozen outfits. I am very thankful for her giving nature, for supporting a spark in the Armenian youth. Not only did all the dancers enjoy wearing traditional clothing, admiring the patterns on the skirts, but the audience continuously gave compliments about our appearance in the performance.
This experience taught me a great deal about the power of a few – a few thoughts and then a few Armenians coming together to attempt the growth of an idea. A few conversations with my friends turned into dancing together on stage in traditional Armenian dress. All these girls came together because of some Armenian girl they knew and an idea she had. I feel lucky to have such committed and educated friends.
It is also important that we learn from our experiences to better our communities and create a future for the youth to take action. As an Armenian school graduate, member of the AYF and child of the Armenian church community, I have been surrounded by the idea of the Armenian community. As the youth, it is our duty to step up and spread the message of our people. We should use our connections to help one another for the united, shared cause to keep our multi-millennia-old identity alive.
However, as I prepared for this performance, it was difficult for me to utilize these connections, especially when searching for group outfits. As a community, we should not look for profits and or be silent as the diaspora attempts to serve the Armenian community. Our Armenian dance ensembles and organizations are in place in order to educate, share and grow global understanding of the presence of Armenians. With that, actions speak louder than words. Let us help the youth to educate their classmates about Armenia, bring Armenian dance to their schools and continue our fight.
My mom was the backbone in letting this idea become a reality, from helping me choose songs and coordinate outfits to picking me up from school. She had watched me prepare for the four-minute performance for months. As she watched me on stage with 16 other students from my school, I could see her eyes shine. Hints of water reflected through them, as she watched high school students of all backgrounds – Japanese, Indian, Polish and Hispanic – come together for the Armenian cause. Every Armenian parent looks to their child to continue the cause, the fight of our ancestors. I could see the pride in my mother’s eyes and the pride of my great-grandparents from 100 years ago. It made getting on stage and dancing for my school community the most worthwhile.
For all the diasporan Armenians: You will be faced with challenges, whether it is being told “no” or struggling to find those who have a will as strong as yours. Be the one to start the group, reach out and represent our nation in every aspect of your life. The Armenian storybook only comes to life if there are storytellers to teach the tales of our people. Dance, sing, read, write, speak and share in any capacity you can. This is what it means to be Armenian.
Watch the Armenian IDA performance at https://youtu.be/chPqJR7ZkaQ