A DANCE GROUP FROM AUSTRALIA
Yerkir.am
July 01, 2006
Q: When was Hamazgayin’s Australian “Sevan” dance group created?
A: (director of Sevan dance group Asatur HAJIAN): The dance group was
formed in 2003 with the initiative of Hamazgayin’s Sevan branch. The
mission of the branch is to contribute to the cultural life of the
Armenian community in Australia. There are 180 dancers in the group
today. The age range of dancers is 6-30 years. These are all amateur
dancers. The groups can only rehearse once a week. We usually use
music written by Armenian composers for our dance performances.
Q: Where did you receive your professional education?
A.H.: I studied in Aleppo. I was Abraham Kostanian’s student. Then
I continued my studies in Armenia with Azat Gharibian.
Q: Please tell us about your activities in Sydney. What performances
have you had there?
A.H.: Our groups have participated in a number of international
festivals.
We receive many invitation especially from foreigners. We were invited
by the Sydney Ballet to teach them an Armenian dance. Our groups have
an annual performance for the Armenian community in Australia. In
addition to this we have a number of other performances. Last year
our group performed together with Ara Gevorgian in Sydney. We also
participated in the performance of Anush Opera directed by Araks
Mansurian.
Q: How did you decide to participate in the One Nation, One Culture
Festival?
Levon Demirian: The initiative came from the Armenian office of
Hamazgayin.
Since we needed a lot of money to come to Armenia to participate in
the festival, the assistance of the Armenian community in Sydney
and our benefactors was very important. With their assistance 50
members of our dance group could participate in the pan-Armenian
festival. Participation in the festival was a good opportunity for our
young people to visit their homeland and be exposed to the Armenian
culture. I have to comment on a very painful issue. During the festival
there were many instances when our culture was presented in foreign
languages. I hope such incidents will not be repeated in the future.
Q: What was the program with which you participated in the festival?
A: We had folk dances in our program. We performed in Vanadzor,
Dilijan, Sevan, Ashtarak, Cascade and the Opera Theater. We will
perform two dances at the closing concert on June 30 together with
Ara Gevorgian which is a big honor for us. By the way, we are the
only dance group from the Diaspora that had the honor of performing
at the opening ceremony.
We have a performance in Stepanakert, Artsakh on July 2. On our way
back to Australia we have a performance in Aleppo on July 7, then
another performance in Damask on July 8, and another one in Beirut on
July 11. Hamazgayin is the organizer of all these performances. All
our expectations were justified and the kids are very enthusiastic
about their performances.
We are grateful to our dance instructor Asatur Hajian because he built
the dance group in three years. We hope we will be able to stick to
our mission of promoting our culture.
We would like to thank once again the organizers of the festival as
well as Hamazgayin for the opportunity that we had to visit Armenia
and perform here.

SUMMER SESSION OF THE OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY TO START IN BRUSSELS
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 10:45
The summer session of the OSCE Parliamentary assembly will start today
in Brussels. Goran Lenmarker may possibly publicize his report on
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Despite this fact, the Azeri delegates
have decided to use the session as a platform for anti-Armenian
statements. Head of the delegation Eldar Ibrahimov noted that the
discussions on “Provision of human security over OSCE territory”
will be used for this purpose.

FIRST SITTING OF THE 12TH CONFERENCE ON “THE METHODS OF SYMMETRY IN PHYSICS” TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 10:57
The first sitting of the 12th scientific conference on “The methods of
symmetry in Physics” dedicated to the 50th anniversary of establishment
of the joint Nuclear Research Institute will be held today in Yerevan
State University.
For this purpose Director of the Institute, correspondent-member of
the RF Academy of Sciences Alexey Sisakyan has arrived in Yerevan.

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORLD SUMMIT OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 11:06
World summit of religious leaders will be held today in Moscow. The
Catholicos of all Armenians Garegin II will also participate in
the event.
Over 100 religious figures will discuss the issue of preservation of
religious and moral values in contemporary society.

DIPLOMATIC ADVISOR OF THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE IS IN ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 11:13
June 28-July 3 Diplomatic Advisor of the President of France Laurent
Biliis paying a visit to Armenia to prepare the Year of France in
Armenia. July 3 he will meet RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MATTHEW BRYZA: US BACKS THE PRINCIPLE OF TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 12:32
“The US backs the principle of territorial integrity, but at the
same time we believe in the right of self-determination of peoples,
declared Matthew Bryza, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
“The US stands for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We
advocate also the territorial integrity of Georgia in the Abkhazian and
South-Ossetian conflicts, as well as that of Moldova in the conflict
of Transniestria.
Simultaneously, we believe in the right for self-determination of
peoples. In case of the conflicts in Karabakh and Georgia these two
principles are contradicting each other,” Matthew Bryza declared.
“It is just in such cases that diplomacy and international mediation
are necessary. The mission of the OSCE Minsk Group is to find ways of
matching these two disparate principles,” the American diplomat noted.
Matthew Bryza declared also that he will visit Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh later in July.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“MIKA” WOMEN’S CHESS CLUB ACHIEVES THE CHESS CUP OF ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 12:56
Women players of the “Mika” chess club of Yerevan won the team
of the Chess Academy of Armenia and achieved the Chess Cup, thus
gaining the right to represent Armenia at women’s European Chess
Cup. The “Mika” club comprised Grand Master Elina Danielyan, ex-world
champion Maya Chiburdanidze and another Georgian chess player Nino
Khurdziadze. The team of the Chess Academy was headed by Grand Master
Lilit Lazarian. It comprised also International Masters Siranush
Andreasyan and Lilit Galoyan.

RA PRESIDENT TO LEAVE FOR IRAN
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 13:30
July 5 the delegation headed by RA President Robert Kocharyan will
leave for the Islamic Republic of Iran on a two-day working visit,
President’s Spokesman Viktor Soghomonyan informed.

ACCIDENT IN MOSCOW; TWO ARMENIANS WOUNDED
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 13:56
A criminal case was launched over the fact of injuring two Armenian
young men in the Moscow subway. “At 17.10 Moscow time Saturday
20-year-old Vache Tovmasyana and 23 year-old Varazdat Hakobyan
applied for medical assistance at ” Kuznetski most” metro station,
Official Representative of the Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow Sergey
Marchenko told ITAR-TASS. According to preliminary information,
they work as constructors.
According to “Interfax” Agency, the two Armenians were knifed and
hospitalized. The hooligans managed to escape.
The operative-investigating group working at the site of the accident
is trying to find possible witnesses. It is not excluded that the
clash occurred on the national basis.

NA DELEGATION OFF TO BRUSSELS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE OSCE PA SESSION
ArmRadio.am
03.07.2006 14:23
RA National Assembly delegation left for Brussels to participate in
the 15th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
The delegation is headed by NA Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan. It
comprises also MPs Samvel Mikoyan and Artashes Geghamyan. The session
will be over on July 7, Press Service of the National Assembly informs.