Gagik Mkhitaryan

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Armenian
Armenian

Gagik Mkhitaryan

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Gagik Mkhitaryan is a dancer and dance teacher from the Republic of Armenia who lives in London, England. Gagik brings a tremendous wealth of dance material and a lot of valuable insight into his dance sessions. He specializes in the traditional folk dances of Armenia and ancient Armenia (that is, Anatolia), of which he knows about 80 different dances, each with many variations. He he can provide both traditional folk dances and highly choreographed stage creations.

Gagik was born in Armenia and trained in Yerevan in the Armenian State Folk Ensemble under Azat Gharibian. He has been a dance instructor for more than twenty years, and is Senior Lecturer at the Yervan State Pedagogical Institute, the organization that researches and preserves traditional folk dance knowledge (much like the Dora Stratou Theatre in Athens). Gagik has performed in many countries and directed many prize-winning dance groups. He has worked in London and Cyprus as a dance instructor in various Armenian institutions, and is currently the founder and director of the Armenian Dance Theatre in London.

He has collaborated with Shakeh Avanessian to bring workshops out of the Armenian community and into the folk dance and circle dance scene.

Gagik's English is fairly good, and he has a great sense of humor and a flair for communication that transcends language barriers. In his teaching and as a person, he comes across as smart and funny, compassionate and precise, and is certainly able to communicate everything that needs to be learned about a dance.

Dances Gagik has taught include versions of Daronee, Gyovand (Habrban), Mayroumeh (Otanav), Ounous, and Tarakama,