PRESS RELEASE
Date: March 30, 2004
Contact: Tania J. Chichmanian, ARKA Ballet
(301) 587-6225; tjc@arkaballet.org

SONA KHARATIAN RECEIVES INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARD FOR DANCE

Washington, DC – ARKA Ballet is pleased to announce that company regular
Sona Kharatian is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual
Artist Award for Solo Dance for the Year 2004. The Maryland State Arts
Council (MSAC) Individual Artist Awards are awarded to Maryland artists
through an anonymous, competitive process to encourage and sustain their
pursuit of artistic excellence. A limited number of awards are offered
each year.

Miss Kharatian is a native of Yerevan, Armenia where she studied at the
Yerevan Choreographic Academy. She came to the United States in 1993,
pursuing her ballet training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet and the
Washington School of Ballet in Washington, DC. She is currently in her
fourth season with the Washington Ballet and is a founding member of ARKA
Ballet. Miss Kharatian has performed with Southern Ballet Theater, and was
featured at City Center’s Studio 5 and at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. A
frequent guest artist, she has toured with the Kirov Ballet and was one of
the dancers chosen to perform in the Kennedy Center’s 25th Anniversary
Program “Suzanne Farrell Stages Balanchine”.

Miss Kharatian is an accomplished ballerina who has performed some of the
most important classical roles, such as Giselle and Myrtha in the romantic
ballet Giselle; Prelude in Les Sylphides; the role of Carlotta Grisi in Pas
de Quatre; Sugar Plum Fairy in Nutcracker, and many others. A beautiful
dancer with long, graceful lines, Miss Kharatian’s repertoire also includes
works by such 20th century choreographers as Balanchine, Forsythe, Choo San
Goh, McIntyre, Bujones, Vanucchi, Anastos and McCullogh, as well as many
works created especially for her by her father, the award-winning
choreographer, Roudolf Kharatian.

The award ceremony for the MSAC Individual Artist Awards for the year 2004
will take place later this spring. For more information about Miss
Kharatian and ARKA Ballet, please visit our website at
or contact Tania Chichmanian at (301) 587-6225 or
tjc@arkaballet.org

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