Marianna Poghosyan from Nairi Dance Company

1) Tell me a bit about yourself

My name is Marianna Poghosyan, I am the Artistic Director of Nairi Dance Company. I am originally from Armenia and came to Australia in 2017. I hold my Bachelor in Law and Political Science from French University of Armenia and my Masters (as well as Policy Officer Title) from European Institute of Political Studies in Nice, France. I also was fortunate enough to become a successful candidate by winning a scholarship for the Global UGRAD Exchange Program to study one year in Utica College in New York, USA.

2) How long have you been dancing and how long have you been a teacher for?

I have been dancing since I was five years old. My teaching experience as a dance instructor began when I along with my two friends/colleagues, Teni Matian and Hayk Hobosyan, were chosen by the British Council of Armenia to be trained in London, UK as Inclusive Dance Mentors with internationally proclaimed Candoco Dance Company. After returning back to Armenia, we conducted a number of master-classes with children and young adults, with special needs. It was a true blessing for me to have a chance to get to know the unique world of these individuals. They carry so much beauty in their crystal souls, witnessing those magical moments during classes when they would find the necessary means and achieve the freedom of sharing their true colours with us in the language of dance.

What attracted you to Armenian dancing?

When I started dance, I started as a classical and contemporary dancer. My first introduction with Armenian dance was through Theatre of Dance and Soul led by Sophie Devoyan. I was introduced to Armenian dance from then. The depth of the echo and excitement when I perform Armenian dance has made me realize once and for all, that everything that I am, sounds only Armenian.

3) What does Armenian dance symbolize to you?

Dancing in general is a way in expressing emotional or intellectual experience. It is a way of self-expression. Therefore, I feel Armenian dance is a way of portraying the historical pathways that the Armenian nation has been through. It is a mean of communication with each other and a good reason of unification. Different types of dances, particularly Armenian dances are a way of connecting and socialising with each other and in our case even carrying victories during various wars.

4) Why is it so important to preserve our Armenian dance groups?

I believe that Armenian dance is a way to express our unique Armenian genetic code and cultural background. It is an avenue of preserving our cultural identity, endless heritage, spiritual values and moral ideology. It is important that every community keeps up with passing on that information, traditions and ‘code’ that is reflected and genuinely preserved in Armenian dances. Without knowing the parameters of your national roots you cannot be the representative of that nation. You become Armenian not by birth but only when Armenia is being born and reflected in you.

5) What do you look to happen to the Nairi group in the coming years?

In the coming year we are getting ready for a concert. I am looking forward to passing on my diverse experience and knowledge to my lovely students. I want to develop within the coming generation new and fresh ideas, colours and means in expressing our Armenian invincible spirit.

6) What is an important quality you look for in your dance students?

Love, appreciation and respect towards each other. I also look for students who have a passion for the arts, discipline, responsibility, quality, good taste and open minded self-expressive personalities as well as the spirit of collective unity and patriotic strength. In my book, I find it to be very important to cultivate tools that may allow them to know and to express themselves as individuals as well as a united entity.

7) What do you hope for your students to take away from dance?

For me it is very important that the students understand what the movements that they demonstrate are all about and consequently what are they moving about. I find it pretty meaningless and wasteful to execute any geometric body shapes or sophisticated techniques when actually neither your thoughts nor your heart and soul are involved. In other words, in dance, as well as generally in life, when the motive and the content of generating any move is not defined, that physical movement, at least for me, becomes totally in vain. I always try to broaden the scope of dance in scope of life, culturally, historically and/or philosophically. Meanwhile, I always make sure that my students possess the necessary informative, emotional, aesthetic layers and technical skills of any given dance.

8) What is your favourite music to accompany a dance performance?

I love classical composers such as iconic Aram Khatchaturyan, with his famous and legendary ballets like Gayane and Spartacus. Those compositions always spark me and lift me eternally up. If you talk about national tunes, I like Yarkhoushta.

9) What do you like to do away from dance?

I have passion and big plans for Opera singing. In general, I like creating, that could involve writing music, poems, photography and drawing. I always find myself inventing or composing something. These activities help me to express my emotions, fantasies, philosophical thoughts, and analytical features and make me understand where I stand at the moment in life and in which direction I have to successfully head and love forward.