Norayr Mehrabyan, founder of the Barekamutyun dance ensemble, dies at 85
- Published
- Place
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
Armenian choreographer Norayr Mehrabyan has died at the age of 85, the National Center of Folk Music and Dance announced on Friday, 13 November. A People’s Artist of Armenia and Honorary Citizen of Yerevan, he founded the Barekamutyun (“Friendship”) State Dance Ensemble in 1987, one of the country’s best-known troupes. A former soloist at the Yerevan Opera, he danced in Leningrad and later headed the capital’s choreographic school. He also worked extensively for the diaspora: he set up dance groups in Beirut, Cyprus, Aleppo and Los Angeles, and worked with Hamazkayin’s Ani ensemble and the Yeraz group in France. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan praised his “invaluable” contribution to Armenian dance. The centre called his death an “irreparable and profound loss”.
From the Yerevan Opera to Leningrad
Born in Yerevan on 4 January 1941, Norayr Mehrabyan trained at the city’s choreographic school. He became a soloist at the Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
In 1970, according to Tert.am, he joined the Choreographic Miniatures company in Leningrad. Three years later, he returned to Yerevan to head the choreographic school, from 1973 to 1983. He also taught classical dance there. From 1984 to 1986, he led the Opera’s ballet company.
His early works, again according to Tert.am, drew on great composers: Bizet’s Youth Symphony, Khachaturian’s Russian Dance and Avetisyan’s Zartonk (“Renaissance”).
Barekamutyun, a troupe and a style
In 1987, he founded the Barekamutyun State Dance Ensemble. The troupe soon became one of the showcases of Armenian dance. In his message, Nikol Pashinyan described it as “one of Armenia’s most distinctive dance groups”, an example of its founder’s creative vision.
The prime minister also recalled his role as a teacher: as head of the Dance College, Norayr Mehrabyan contributed to “the education and development of the new generation”. He received the title of People’s Artist of Armenia in 2006, as well as the Movses Khorenatsi and Mesrop Mashtots medals.
The Yerevan State College of Dance, which he once led, also announced his death. It called it “an irreparable and profound loss for Armenian dance art”.
A bridge to the diaspora
Norayr Mehrabyan worked a great deal outside Armenia. He founded dance groups in the Armenian communities of Beirut, Cyprus, Aleppo and Los Angeles. He worked with the Ani ensemble of the Hamazkayin cultural association and with the Yeraz group in France.
For many young people in the diaspora, such ensembles are a first link with Armenian culture. The dances he passed on are still learned and performed there.
Analysis
With Norayr Mehrabyan goes one of the builders of Armenian stage dance as we know it today. His career sums up an era: Soviet training, a spell in Leningrad, then a return to Yerevan to pass it on. But his legacy reaches beyond Armenia. By creating troupes from Beirut to Los Angeles, he gave the diaspora a simple, living way to keep its culture. The Barekamutyun ensemble remains his most visible work. Almost forty years after it was founded, the troupe still performs, in Armenia and abroad.
Possible consequences
The date and place of the funeral have not yet been announced.
