Asbarez- A ballet titled “Meran Vor Aprink” (They Died So We May Live), dedicated to the Armenian Genocide, was honored with television’s prestigious Emmy Award at the 45th Annual Emmy Awards 2016 Ceremony. The Emmys were presented to the film’s Executive Producers, Diane and Charles Paskerian.

The Emmy Award is presented for outstanding achievement in television by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), San Francisco Northern California Chapter, including Hawaii, Reno, and Sacramento, Oregon. This year there was a record number of 757 English and 179 Spanish entries in 67 categories. “Meron Vor Abrink” was listed under the Arts/Entertainment-Program/Special category.

Davit Karapetyan, Principle Dancer with the San Francisco Ballet, was so inspired when he saw San Francisco’s Armenian Genocide Memorial “Mount Davidson Cross” for the first time, he envisioned choreographing a 100th Genocide Ballet Dance Video as a “Tribute to the Survival of our Ancestors through creative dance and music. We agreed to raise necessary funds for talent and crew….and the “creative process began!”

The ballet took over a year to produce, with original choreography by Davit Karapetyan, fourteen San Francisco Ballet dancers including Karapetyan, Vanessa Zahorian, and a crew of 23. Writing, editing, and development input was done by Diane and Charles Paskerian. Filming took place at Baker’s Beach and the Mount Davidson Cross.

The video project was enthusiastically endorsed by the Bay Area Centennial Committee and the Council of Armenian American Organizations of the Bay Area. The Council is charged with maintaining and supporting the Armenian Genocide Memorial Cross at Mount Davidson, the home of the Annual San Francisco Easter Sunrise Service for almost 100 years, and supporting Armenian Genocide education. The historical cross is the tallest Armenian Genocide Monument in the World.

The ballet may be viewed in the Youtube video below: