Antranig Dance Ensemble Debuts "Reflections" in New York

The AGBU Antranig Dance Ensemble commemorated its 40th anniversary in 2009, crowned by a glorious performance at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, November 28. The ensemble's rich reputation precedes it whenever and wherever they dance, but it's always a breath-taking experience to watch one of its complete two-hour performances. And the debut of the new production titled "Reflections" was no different.

The event took on an aura of its own, just by taking place at the prestigious Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center. Completely remodeled and rebuilt this year, the sophisticated theater on New York's Upper West Side prepared everyone for a night of special surprises. Among its myriad of Manhattan shows, the Ensemble has already performed seven times at Alice Tully Hall, in addition to twice at Avery Fisher Hall (also in Lincoln Center) and eight times at Carnegie Hall.

The program was sub-titled "Performance and Celebration," but it wasn't until the show began that everyone realized it would be so much more than they had come to expect from Antranig. With four decades of accomplishments, the dance ensemble couldn't let its past go unnoticed, and through unique integrations was able to tie its several hundred performances and over 300 alumni dancers into the evening's presentation. In fact, this anniversary event was the Ensemble’s 100th full-length program.

Archival videos of the group on and off stage, photos from dozens of road performances, recognition of past founders and artistic directors, and video congratulations from all corners of the arts world turned an evening of Armenian dance into a crescendo of 40 years of successes. In all the special effects and presentations, let it not be forgotten that the Antranig Dance Ensemble of today, comprised of 40 young men and women, put on a dance performance to surpass everything that had come before. The choreography of Gagik Karapetian, former Director and Choreographer of the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia, was enough to amaze even the most knowledgeable attendees. The energy and precision of the Antranig dancers was so intense as to surprise even the 100-plus former performers who were in the audience. "This was developed as a professional-level show. There are very few amateur groups in the world that could have performed this as well," Karapetian said.

The variety of the program, as in so many Antranig productions, offered something for all tastes. Still true to its roots, the Ensemble presented traditional ethnographic dances, though completely updated for today's audiences. There was new choreography added to many styles of contemporary Armenian music, never before danced by any group. And there were all-new stories-in-dance that are so familiar to Antranig audiences. Artistic Director Joyce Tamesian-Shenloogian credits her twenty-year partner, Karapetian, with building and developing the Antranig Dance Ensemble to its current level. "With each generation of dancers, he raises the bar for Armenian dance even further. His creations are complex and challenging, but always in the best of taste and always aimed at entertaining his audience," she said.

The reputation of the Ensemble as one of the foremost Armenian dance groups in the world has been upheld admirably in this all-new show. In the coming year, the show will travel to a number of cities nationwide, to showcase the current level of beauty and energy of Armenian dance. As company manager Robert Doramajian said, "I'm not ready to know what else could possibly be planned for future years." Also notable in the Antranig story is that the Ensemble now boasts several "second generation" dancers - children of former dancers, who count themselves as part of the greater AGBU Antranig Dance Ensemble family. One of the evening’s emcees, Ashod Spendjian, said in the opening remarks, "AGBU created Antranig in 1969 as a way to ensure that our Armenian culture would continue to thrive here in this country. It was a way to engage the youth ... and it worked. It flourished ... and for the past 40 years the Antranig Dance Ensemble has given our young adults a place to experience their culture and a way to deliver it to communities around the world."