ANI KOUYOUMDJIAN:

Director, Choreographer, Master teacher of ballet and Armenian dance.

Armenian Dance

Ani Kouyoumdjian graduated with honors from a 7 year scholarship program at the Choreographic Dance Academy of Yerevan, Armenia - an academy that has produced many famous ballet dancers and has made Armenian Folk Dance what it is today.

At age six Ani began to study ballet and continued her studies in
the junior division with the National Ballet School of Canada and George Brown College for the Arts. At age eleven her natural talents were discovered by well known ethnographer, dancer, and choreographer Azad Gharibian who invited her to continue her studies in Yerevan under his tutelage. When she was thirteen, Ani was the first Canadian and also the youngest scholarship student in Armenia, and was just beginning her training as a classical ballet dancer studying the world-renowned Russian Vaganova Technique, a metod that did not isolate one particular part of body, but trained it into one harmonious whole.

Ani holds a Teaching Diploma in Ballet - Vaganova Method, Character Dance and Armenian Folk Dance. While studying she also taught at The Choreographic Dance Academy of Yerevan.

Ani has worked extensively with teachers and dancers in Leningrad, Moscow, France, Armenia, and Canada. She is honored to include among her mentors, ballet masters Maxim Mardirossian, Azad Gharibian, Theressa Grigorian, and Ludmilla Semenova - student of  Agrippina Vaganova.

Ani regularly takes part in various dance workshops, including the National Ballet School of Canada. In addition to solo performances, Ani has also worked with the Armenian State Opera and Ballet Company’s many productions including: Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Coppellia, Snow Maiden, Giselle, Gayaneh, Andouni, and Mascarade. In Toronto she has appeared in many productions with Opera Atelier, Canada's Baroque Opera Company, rounding out her portfolio with yet another dance form.

Having trained as a professional classical ballet dancer, Ani uses the Vaganova ballet technique as the foundation of her dance instruction, bringing an understanding of the grace and importance of each movement, regardless of whether it's ballet, folk dance, character dance or any other dance form.

Ani with Opera Atelier Canadas baroque opera & dance company.