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Akh'Tamar: An Ensemble Built On Cherished Values

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  • Akh'Tamar: An Ensemble Built On Cherished Values

    AKH'TAMAR: AN ENSEMBLE BUILT ON CHERISHED VALUES
    by Elyssa Karanian

    Armenian Reporter
    October 25, 2008
    Armenia

    The dynamic dance troupe gears up for a rare Glendale performance

    The girls of the ensemble depict the waves of Lake Van, the home of
    the legend of Akhtamar. Photo

    Philadelphia - Sylva Asadourian has been dancing all her life. As a
    teenager living in Lebanon, she was a member of the Antranig Dance
    Group. During her last two years of high school, she taught her own
    Armenian dance classes, greatly influenced by Vanoush Khanamiryan,
    the longtime choreographer of Armenia's State Dance Ensemble. In
    those years, Sylva learned and drew new ideas by watching videos of
    Khanamiryan's performances.

    After moving to the United States, Sylva continued to teach dance in
    a variety of places, including the Hovnanian School in New Milford,
    New Jersey. During her five-year stint there, the children's dance
    group which she taught boasted over 90 members.

    Despite the existence of the AGBU Antranig Dance Ensemble in New
    York, the early 90s saw a lull in Armenian dance-group membership
    and performances, leading Sylva to decide that it was the perfect
    time to start her own ensemble.

    "I approached one of the mothers and gave her my idea for the dance
    group," she recalls. "About seven or eight ladies joined me and helped
    make costumes and recruit members."

    Talar Sarafian, who grew up dancing in the Antranig Dance Ensemble,
    remembers: "At that time there was a lot of need for these young
    Armenian girls to belong somewhere. There was a need for an activity
    beside the occasional school hantes [group performance]."

    That need for belonging was soon filled for more than 70 girls,
    with the creation of the Akh'Tamar Dance Ensemble in 1994.

    Building a family Since its creation, Akh'Tamar has developed into a
    successful troupe comprising a sparkling collection of young Armenians,
    ranging in age from 5 (and sometimes even younger) to 22.

    The ensemble's Friday-night rehearsals are not what one would
    imagine in terms of a typical dance rehearsal or sports practice,
    with parents leaving their child with a quarter (or a cell phone)
    and telling them to call when they're ready to be picked up. Rather,
    Akh'Tamar's Friday-night rehearsals are family nights. Mothers stay
    to watch and enjoy a fellowship of their own, sewing costumes and
    showing their support for the group.

    "It started like that because we were initially independent and
    without financial support," Sylva says of the Friday-night gatherings
    of volunteer moms and committee members. "But now everyone comes to
    the church and we all participate. Everyone has a great time and we
    are all producing something."

    These gatherings were not always possible for Akh'Tamar. Until
    recently, the ensemble did not have a permanent home. What started
    as a group of seven or eight Istanbul-Armenian women - led by Sylva
    and co-founder Zvart Gulian - making costumes and trying to start
    their own group eventually grew into a comprehensive effort that was
    "adopted" last year by Tenafly, New Jersey's St. Thomas Armenian
    Church, which provided the ensemble with a real home.

    Sylva calls the church their "umbrella," as she credits it for giving
    her dance group everything it needed to function as an independent
    ensemble. "Besides," Sylva says, "we have an even larger family
    now. The hayr soorp [Father Papken Anoushian] leads the dancers and
    directs them in different ways, the parish council is there supporting
    and encouraging them. It's a big deal for the girls to see someone
    beside the Akh'Tamar committee members supporting them. It's been a
    great, great blessing for us."

    Just as Sylva expresses her gratitude for the presence of the church
    in the life of her ensemble, her dancers feel equally blessed to
    have her. Twenty-year-old Shushan Barsanogullari, one of Akh'Tamar's
    soloists, says that Sylva's involvement in each of her dancers'
    lives makes them feel something incredibly special. "She taught us
    that everyone needs to be made to feel equal," Shushan says. "She
    taught us to set good examples for the younger girls. We have Sylva
    to steer us and guide us in the right direction." Shushan gushes on
    without taking a breath: "We have our moms there at practices. They're
    there. Having them devote so much time to this group, that's what
    makes us appreciate everything that much more. We're at home here."

    Daughters (and sons) of Akh'Tamar Today approximately 80 dancers call
    Akh'Tamar home. While membership is mainly female, this past summer
    Sylva opened the group up to a small group of younger boys. There
    are currently about 15 boys ranging in age from 5 to 12.

    What seems to hold this dynamic group together is a set of solid
    family values. Many of the dancers say, above everything else,
    it is the closeness they feel that makes them successful. "There's
    something different about it," Shushan says of the ensemble. "I think
    it's because we don't look at it as a dance group. We're all really
    good friends. We're all very close. Our oldest members will hang out
    with the younger girls. We just had a birthday party for one of the
    nine-year-olds. These are our sisters."

    Talar, who is now a committee member and a parent of two young
    Akh'Tamar dancers, comments: "I think the key to this group
    is Sylva and her right-hand woman, Zvart, who does most of
    the costume-making. They work as a team and they are really the
    cornerstones. They are energetic women and strong women and they are
    very resourceful. They keep it going through thick and thin."

    The combination of young and old, dancers and choreographers,
    committee members and volunteers, and those who simply come to give
    their support, is what gives this group its edge. "It's all about the
    people that you have with you," Shushan says earnestly. "That's what
    makes you shine."

    Dance group of the community Another thing that sets Akh'Tamar apart
    is its dedication to staying non-affiliated. In a culture that seems
    to demand that we make choices and take sides, Akh'Tamar manages to
    remain the "dance group of the community."

    With acknowledgement in her voice of just how great a feat this
    seems to be in the Armenian diaspora, Talar says, "Akh'Tamar is
    a very non-political and non-affiliated group. This past May, for
    instance, we performed for an ARF event. It really goes to show you
    that there are very few dance groups that cross community lines. We
    pride ourselves on being the dance group of the entire community,
    not just on one side of it."

    Regarding that performance, Sylva says, "It was very together. It
    was just one Armenian group. The girls [who danced together] became
    friends. They call each other sometimes. It really hasn't been too
    difficult for us to stay non-affiliated."

    Akh'Tamar gives several performances each year, appearing at various
    Armenian events and ethnic festivals throughout the United States. The
    ensemble also gives an annual performance at Felician College in New
    Jersey. Last year Akh'Tamar participated in an Iranian parade and most
    recently performed for a Saint Vartanants celebration alongside the
    Sayat-Nova and Yeraz dance groups. "It was a huge success," Sylva
    says of the last appearance.

    On November 2, at the invitation of the Tekeyan Cultural Association
    and the Organization of Istanbul Armenians, Akh'Tamar will be
    performing for the first time in Glendale, California. Harout
    Yeretsian, vice-chairman of Tekeyan's Glendale branch, says, "Sylva
    is a very talented choreographer and Akh'Tamar is a very interesting
    group. We are excited to have them perform here."

    Shushan, and the other members of Akh'Tamar, are just as
    excited. "Every time we have a rehearsal, we just keep giving each
    other pep talks," she says. "I still can't believe that we were given
    this opportunity."

    Giving back Akh'Tamar has given an immeasurable gift to all
    involved. "I remember my years of dancing," Talar says. "It's a whole
    different sense of belonging to a group. My friends and I still keep
    in touch, and now it's our children that are a part of this."

    And if you're not involved but you wish to be, "Just show up on a
    Friday night and say you want to dance," says Talar. "Sylva works
    with the newcomers one-on-one until they are used to the steps and the
    environment." Akh'Tamar's learning environment fosters a shared love
    of dance, Armenian culture, and this growing family of dancers. "Once
    you get there," Shushan says, "and once you feel the music, that's
    it. That's all there is. It's not an obligation, it's your life."

    For all those who have watched, or will watch, Akh'Tamar perform,
    you are not without these gifts of belonging. Shushan says, "Everyone
    is there for one reason." She doesn't elaborate on the "everyone"
    part, but I take it to include dancers, audience members, supporters,
    parents, and a host of others. And that "reason?" "Because you love
    your culture," she says. "Akh'Tamar is a family, but we're all the
    same - every dance group. We're all in it for the same reason: we all
    love to dance. And we're all special because we give the community a
    different way to look at our culture, and that's in how we express it:
    through dance."
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