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DANCE HOMAGE TO A MASTER
Canberra Times (Australia)
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Final Edition
The first-time contemporary dancer and choreographer Aida Amirkhanian
saw the iconic French dancer and choreographer Maurice Bejart's
company Le Ballet de 20eme Siecle performing in an ancient ruin in
Iran, she knew she had to dance with his company. But, at the same
time, she had been called up for compulsory service with the Iranian
army for two years. She was 16. "At that moment my world tipped and
I knew," she said.
"Bejart looked at me. I was naive.
I asked him, 'How can I do this?'
Then he invited me to audition. He was like a magnet to me."
Amirkhanian knew that after two years in the military she would be
too old to train as a dancer at Bejart's Mudra School of Performing
Arts in Brussels. So she wrote to Queen Farah Diba, the then Shah of
Persia's wife, appealing against her military service. She knew of
Bejart's close relationship with the Queen because he had dedicated
his ballet, Farah, to her. It worked, and after three months in the
military she left to join Bejart's Mudra School of Performing Arts.
With only a traditional dance background, she found herself in classes
with dancers who had been learning ballet from the age of five.
Bejart's training was rigorous.
Students worked from 9am to 9pm. Amirkhanian says, "I didn't see sun
or daylight for months.
The amount of work was incredible and after a few months I was quite
exhausted and homesick," and she left, returning two weeks later. She
trained with 35 students and was one of only two dancers who joined
Bejart's Le Ballet de 20eme Siecle at that time. When Bejart died in
November 2007, Amirkhanian, now living in Los Angeles, was devastated.
"When he went I felt left alone and something inside me said, 'You
must dance,' and that's part of his legacy for me and is why I'm here
in Canberra now." Born in Tehran of Armenian origins, Amirkhanian,
now an Australian citizen, accepted an invitation to perform her solo
Persevere with Mirramu Dance Company as part of Tango Lament at the
Street Theatre for the 2008 National Multicultural Festival.
Persevere was created in homage to Bejart. It's inspired by a
poem about passion for life by Sufi poet Rumi and performed to a
soundscape of Jivan Gasparyan, master of the ancient Armenian duduk,
who on this occasion sings, and Yo-Yo Ma's interpretation of Bach's
cello suites. Amirkhanian's family fled the revolution in Iran in
1981. She worked in Canberra from 1983 to 1993. Dance aficionados
will remember her quirky, passionate dancing in her solo show Mephisto
Waltz and her performances with Don Asker's Human Veins Dance Theatre,
Stephanie Burridge's Canberra Dance Ensemble and also the Women on
a Shoe String Theatre. Her collaborations with Elizabeth Cameron
Dalman and Paige Gordon in the 1990s resulted in Credo and In Search
of Sophia, the latter being performed in Lake George at a time when
there was water. She taught at the Betsy Sawers Dance School, now
Canberra Youth Ballet, Canberra Youth Theatre and Jigsaw Theatre.
In 1993 Amirkhanian left for Los Angeles and she was nominated for
2004 Horton Dance Awards for outstanding solo performer.
Working on a dance with the Armenian composer Delalian, who created
Topophono, and the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia was a joy.
Last year in Armenia she performed Carmen as a solo in the ruins of
a church. She says Armenia is an extraordinary country, the land,
the history, the opportunities.
She says, "it's falling apart politically" but when she's there she
feels she can create epics.
Speaking French, Armenian, Persian and English and understanding some
Spanish, she says that Sanskrit is her new passion and after 11 years
she's not fluent yet.
The practice, study and teaching of Iyengar yoga is her "solid pillar".
"Dance does not happen outside of me. It becomes a burden for me to
carry. If I don't put it outside of me it will eat me alive.
Dance bugs me and becomes bigger than what I can hold on to and then
I have to create."
The Canberra Times dance critic Larry Ruffell once wrote, "Aida is
an authoritative and irresistible performer who takes you in her arms
and carries you away with her." Don't miss her Persevere performance.
Persevere in Tango Lament, The Street Theatre, February 8 at 8pm,
February 9 at 2pm and 8pm.
Canberra Times (Australia)
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Final Edition
The first-time contemporary dancer and choreographer Aida Amirkhanian
saw the iconic French dancer and choreographer Maurice Bejart's
company Le Ballet de 20eme Siecle performing in an ancient ruin in
Iran, she knew she had to dance with his company. But, at the same
time, she had been called up for compulsory service with the Iranian
army for two years. She was 16. "At that moment my world tipped and
I knew," she said.
"Bejart looked at me. I was naive.
I asked him, 'How can I do this?'
Then he invited me to audition. He was like a magnet to me."
Amirkhanian knew that after two years in the military she would be
too old to train as a dancer at Bejart's Mudra School of Performing
Arts in Brussels. So she wrote to Queen Farah Diba, the then Shah of
Persia's wife, appealing against her military service. She knew of
Bejart's close relationship with the Queen because he had dedicated
his ballet, Farah, to her. It worked, and after three months in the
military she left to join Bejart's Mudra School of Performing Arts.
With only a traditional dance background, she found herself in classes
with dancers who had been learning ballet from the age of five.
Bejart's training was rigorous.
Students worked from 9am to 9pm. Amirkhanian says, "I didn't see sun
or daylight for months.
The amount of work was incredible and after a few months I was quite
exhausted and homesick," and she left, returning two weeks later. She
trained with 35 students and was one of only two dancers who joined
Bejart's Le Ballet de 20eme Siecle at that time. When Bejart died in
November 2007, Amirkhanian, now living in Los Angeles, was devastated.
"When he went I felt left alone and something inside me said, 'You
must dance,' and that's part of his legacy for me and is why I'm here
in Canberra now." Born in Tehran of Armenian origins, Amirkhanian,
now an Australian citizen, accepted an invitation to perform her solo
Persevere with Mirramu Dance Company as part of Tango Lament at the
Street Theatre for the 2008 National Multicultural Festival.
Persevere was created in homage to Bejart. It's inspired by a
poem about passion for life by Sufi poet Rumi and performed to a
soundscape of Jivan Gasparyan, master of the ancient Armenian duduk,
who on this occasion sings, and Yo-Yo Ma's interpretation of Bach's
cello suites. Amirkhanian's family fled the revolution in Iran in
1981. She worked in Canberra from 1983 to 1993. Dance aficionados
will remember her quirky, passionate dancing in her solo show Mephisto
Waltz and her performances with Don Asker's Human Veins Dance Theatre,
Stephanie Burridge's Canberra Dance Ensemble and also the Women on
a Shoe String Theatre. Her collaborations with Elizabeth Cameron
Dalman and Paige Gordon in the 1990s resulted in Credo and In Search
of Sophia, the latter being performed in Lake George at a time when
there was water. She taught at the Betsy Sawers Dance School, now
Canberra Youth Ballet, Canberra Youth Theatre and Jigsaw Theatre.
In 1993 Amirkhanian left for Los Angeles and she was nominated for
2004 Horton Dance Awards for outstanding solo performer.
Working on a dance with the Armenian composer Delalian, who created
Topophono, and the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia was a joy.
Last year in Armenia she performed Carmen as a solo in the ruins of
a church. She says Armenia is an extraordinary country, the land,
the history, the opportunities.
She says, "it's falling apart politically" but when she's there she
feels she can create epics.
Speaking French, Armenian, Persian and English and understanding some
Spanish, she says that Sanskrit is her new passion and after 11 years
she's not fluent yet.
The practice, study and teaching of Iyengar yoga is her "solid pillar".
"Dance does not happen outside of me. It becomes a burden for me to
carry. If I don't put it outside of me it will eat me alive.
Dance bugs me and becomes bigger than what I can hold on to and then
I have to create."
The Canberra Times dance critic Larry Ruffell once wrote, "Aida is
an authoritative and irresistible performer who takes you in her arms
and carries you away with her." Don't miss her Persevere performance.
Persevere in Tango Lament, The Street Theatre, February 8 at 8pm,
February 9 at 2pm and 8pm.