As the Armenian Dance Ensemble takes the State Fair stage, traditions come full circle

Local troupe to perform Sept. 5 at the “Great Minnesota Get-together”

by Lou Ann Matossian

Published: Thursday August 20, 2009

Founding director Nairy Digris, lower left, leads the Armenian Dance Ensemble of Minnesota in a recent performance.

The Armenian Dance Ensemble performs each year at the Festival of Nations in St. Paul, Minnesota. The troupe, pictured here at the 2009 Festival, will dance at the Minnesota State Fair on Sept. 5.

Saint Paul, Minn. - Armenian dance in Minnesota goes back more than a century, not quite as long as the Minnesota State Fair, which marks its 150th anniversary August 27 through Labor Day. These two venerable traditions – one modest, the other gargantuan – will meet on Sept. 5, when the Armenian Dance Ensemble takes the stage at one of the largest state fairs in the country.

Led by director-choreographer Naïry Digris, the St. Paul–based folk troupe will present regional Armenian dances in four half-hour performances. The general State Fair ticket price includes free admission to the noon, 1:30, 3:00, and 4:00 p.m. shows in the International Bazaar area of the fairgrounds.

"Since its founding in 1990 under the auspices of the Armenian Cultural Organization of Minnesota, the Armenian Dance Ensemble has evolved into a strong, self-sufficient, and organized entity," says Ms. Digris, who also teaches Armenian dance in the lively Twin Cities international dance community along with her husband, Ensemble member Terry McGibbon.

Now in its second generation, the Armenian Dance Ensemble aims to preserve the regional dance traditions of historic Armenia, teach them to interested Armenians and non-Armenians, and enhance community awareness of Armenian heritage, history, and culture through music as well as staged and narrated performances. Dancers of varying abilities, ages, and ethnic backgrounds are welcome.

Following in their mother's graceful footsteps, Natasha and Alarica Hassett grew up with the Armenian Dance Ensemble. The sisters now dance professionally with Minneapolis avant-garde companies – Natasha as a co-founder of Catalyst and Alarica as a member of Ballet of the Dolls.

Today's ensemble includes Bradley and Mitchell Erickson and their mother, ACOM President Cynthia Reimers Erickson, descendants of a North Dakota Armenian pioneer family.

Armenian dance arrived in Minnesota with turn-of-the century immigrants from Kharpert and Sepastia. Their daughters staged the earliest known public performance in 1932 at the original Festival of Nations – now a long-running St. Paul multicultural institution in its own right – and later generations carried on the custom.

With plenty of Festival of Nations experience under its embroidered belt, the Armenian Dance Ensemble debuted at the State Fair in 2002. This year, the Festival of Nations is sponsoring the State Fair stage where the troupe will take its second bow.

Some 1.7 million people are expected at the twelve-day celebration of all things Minnesotan, which boasts an average daily attendance of about 140,000.

And on September 5, in the graceful turn of a veil, traditions will come full circle.

connect:
mnarmenians.org (Dance Ensemble)
mnstatefair.org