Interview
State Dance Ensemble of Armenia
Contact: Harutyun Azaryan
Tel:+ 37410 58-14-26
Email: statedanceensemble@rambler.ru.

STATE DANCE ENSEMBLE OF ARMENIA SET TO MARK 50TH ANNIVERSARY IN GRAND STYLE

Interview by Sona Hamalian

For the past 50 years, the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia has been
synonymous with grand, dazzling performances.

In the Soviet era, it helped preserve the rich heritage of traditional
Armenian music and dance, energetically cultivating its repertoire
within a modern artistic context. As the ensemble regularly appeared
on the world stage and garnered great acclaim, it also functioned as a
cultural bridge between Armenia and diaspora communities.

Following Armenia’s independence, the ensemble initially fell on hard
times and even faced closure. But it re-emerged, stronger than ever,
thanks to the dedication and many sacrifices of its leadership and
performers alike.

Today, as the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia prepares to celebrate
its 50th anniversary, a string of special performances is in the
works. The concert series will kick off with a gala Yerevan appearance
in late April. Subsequently the ensemble will tour diaspora
communities across the globe, beginning with a performances on May 1
at the prestigious Kremlin Palace Theater in Moscow, with more
appearances in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Canada, and
elsewhere.

Given the considerable scale of the tour, artistic director Eric
Chanchurian says the ensemble is welcoming sponsorships to help offset
the cost of the planned performances. Event sponsors can include
governments, embassies, international arts agencies, and corporations,
as well as diaspora foundations and individual benefactors.

I caught up with Chanchurian in Yerevan, where his troupe’s rehearsals
are in full swing.

Q: During the Soviet period, what role did the State Dance Ensemble of
Armenia have in terms of preserving traditional Armenian music and
dance, and also helping them evolve and gain further popularity?

A: With its prolific output, both within the Soviet Union and beyond
its borders, the ensemble became one of Armenia’s most recognizable
calling cards. It came to represent a certain cultural brand. The
ensemble was created with a clear goal: to safeguard the age-old
traditions of Armenian music and dance. Today this goal continues to
be realized, and with considerable success.

Q: What were some of the basic practical and esthetic challenges which
the ensemble faced in the decades between its founding and Armenia’s
independence?

A: The challenges were many. In general, the ensemble needed to sift
and purify Armenian music, dance, and folk attire. It needed to
achieve a certain level in terms of dance design and vision so that
the spirit of the people, its struggles, triumphs, existential
philosophy ` that is to say, the very identity of the Armenian nation
` would be reflected in the ensemble’s repertoire and presented to the
world at the highest standards of the art form. This, I believe, was
fully accomplished. There was another set of challenges, one that
pertained to the difficulties of ` and obstacles to ` staging purely
national dances. The Soviet authorities mandated that the dances of
`brother’ peoples also had to be staged, in conjunction with the
Armenian repertoire, that Armenia and Armenian dances had to be
manifested as part and parcel of the Soviet fatherland. I’m proud to
say that, despite the restrictions of those years, the ensemble was
able to maintain its performances of Armenian dance at the highest
artistic level.

Q: What can you tell us about the ensemble’s performances in diaspora
communities during the decades prior to Armenia’s independence, when
links between Armenia and the diaspora were quite limited?

A: Our ensemble was that `wing of the crane’ which, overcoming the
`iron curtains’ of the Soviet Union, presented to the worldwide
Armenian community the homeland it yearned for. It was often jokingly
said that the ensemble was guest-performing in Armenia ` that’s how
often the troupe toured abroad. Indeed, through its performances, the
ensemble brought a breath of fresh air to diaspora communities and, by
doing so, contributed to the burgeoning of an Armenian consciousness,
a heightened sense of identity. Today, too, our compatriots abroad
welcome our performances with utmost enthusiasm. I even know people
who travel from one country to the next to catch one of our
appearances.

Q: In general, have the ensemble’s overseas performances helped
enhance its artistic evolution?

A: Absolutely. Isn’t it a fact that contact with various cultures and
traditions helps expand and enrich one’s artistic and intellectual
horizons?

Q: Would it be accurate to say that Armenia’s independence was also a
turning point for the ensemble? What were some of the practical
changes that occurred, and what were the new challenges, especially in
the early years of independence?

A: We all know what it took to establish the independence of which our
nation had been dreaming for centuries: earthquake, war, economic
blockade, those cold and dark years… All this couldn’t have not
impacted the country’s culture as well. In turn, the State Dance
Ensemble faced many difficulties. There came a point when it was in
danger of being shut down. I’ve been witness to those days, when the
Ministry of culture tried hard to convince my father, Suren
Chanchurian, to assume leadership of the troupe in the absence of
costumes and musical instruments. In the absence of every necessity
imaginable. But, within a short time, the ensemble regained
itself. Everyone involved proved to have an indomitable will to
persevere. And they all pulled through.

Q: Would you say that Armenia’s independence, and consequently the new
social and cultural situation, compelled the ensemble to change its
artistic direction, to any extent?

A: Of course. Today, as the republic’s main dance troupe, we have a
duty to help reassess and give fresh meaning to the Armenian
identity. This entails fundamental changes in artistic, programmatic,
and esthetic terms.

Q: Today, when the ensemble prepares to commemorate its 50th
anniversary across the world, what is your vision regarding the
troupe’s next phase of development?

A: We are now in the process of finalizing an entirely new concert
program, dedicated to celebrating the ensemble’s 50th
anniversary. With this program, which very much reflects the troupe’s
next phase of evolution, we seek to speak to the world in today’s
language. A culture is not measured by the size of a country. We have
the will to become one of the world’s most sought-after dance troupes.

Q: Given the fast pace of economic and possibly cultural changes
taking place in Armenia today, and also a more pronounced clash
between the traditional and the modern, how do you envision the role
of a phenomenon like the State Dance Ensemble, in terms of larger
patterns of cultural evolution?

A: Throughout its history, the ensemble has harmonized the traditional
with the contemporary. I think this is one major reason that the
troupe today remains artistically relevant and its performances
continue to draw large audiences, in Armenia and the diaspora alike.
I think genuine cultural values always remain modern and relevant. But
beyond this, I think it is precisely in times of transition, such as
the one experienced by Armenia today, that traditional culture ` the
classical ` helps nations not to lose their character, not to plunge
into mediocrity, to avoid becoming mere consumer societies. Wise
nations always succeed in accomplishing this.

Q: What, would you say, are some of the defining artistic and thematic
characteristics of Armenian music and dance? And do you agree that
these art forms generally express an irreducible youthfulness?

A: If we were to enumerate those characteristics, our conversation
would take hours, if not days. In the main, Armenian music and dance
remain distinct insofar as the Armenians as a nation remain
distinct. And for as long as the Armenian nation exists, its music and
dance will continue to be youthful, given their inevitable and welcome
evolution. We only need to make certain that the evolutionary changes
take place within an Armenian context.

Q: Do you think that traditional Armenian music and dance ` with their
compositional structure, esthetic sensibilities, and thematic
possibilities ` can have a meaningful place in the development of
Armenian culture in our century, and consequently in the daily life of
the Armenian people?

A: Yes, without a doubt. I say this because I believe that the
Armenian is an Armenian not merely because his or her passport says
so, but on the strength of language, mindset, and culture ` which
certainly includes music and dance. Indeed, on the Armenian cultural
palette and in our daily lives alike, Armenian music and dance have
their unique, and essential, place.