Marseilles. JAF’s Vanouch Khanamirian School of Dance celebrates its 20th anniversary on May 27
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- The young dancers who will take part in the show on May 27 © Joël Barcy
Marion Chamassian, director of the Vanouch Khanamirian dance school explains: ” The school at twenty years old, until then there were dance lessons but the creation of this structure responded to the needs to increase the level; to create a pool of young artists called upon to become members of the Araxe troupe; to perpetuate and strengthen the link with the great artists and institutions of Armenia. This is why we took the name of Vanouch Khanamirian, this great choreographer. Renowned classical dancer in the former USSR, contemporary of Barychnikov and Nureyev, he will be pushed at the end of the sixties to become the official choreographer of the State ensemble of Armenia. He then went to the villages, to collect all the traditional dances “. She clarifies: It should be known that the dance occupies a very important place in the Armenian culture, a tradition which is registered, at the beginning, in the pagan culture “. And the Marseille school: transmits the dances of the repertoire but with modern sounds during the courses that we give, the shows as well as the master classes that we organize in France or in Armenia “.
Marion Chamassian is accompanied by a team of teachers: Marine Mouradian, Lilit Manukyan, Marie Aidin, Lena Arzoumian and Stéphane Avedisian. Children are supervised twice a week. Aged 5 to 17, young people are divided into 8 levels. During the meeting with the press, it was the turn of the teenagers of the highest level to train hard for the show.
More than folkloric, these dances are traditional, they are part of a very lively culture, in Armenia of course but, in this case, also in Marseilles, as evidenced by these young girls who express their love of dance, their pleasure in meet up. ” In dance collectives, there is a joy that draws us all “, they explain. Emotions that the public should share on May 27 at the Palais des Sports as these dances know how to be expressive, powerful.
Levon Khozian: “The JAF Marseille contributes to better living together”
” The JAF space is a living spaceunderlines Levon Khozian, the president of JAF Marseille, here we find a dance school, a music school, language courses, painting. The JAF thus promotes for decades the social integration of new generations and contributes to better living together. “. He recalls : ” The association comes from the resistance, inspired by the resistant Missak Manouchian, it works to maintain and develop the Armenian culture in France and the Armenian cause and the recognition of the Armenian genocide are part of the foundations of the JAF. With the creation of Amnésie internationale in 2001, the JAF provided an innovative and original response to questions of memory “.
Michel CAIRE – Video report Joël BARCY