About the Group

The Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble, under the auspices of the Saint Vartan Cathedral in New York City, came into existence in 1992 as a small, young cultural group when a few teenagers wanted to familiarize the non-Armenian community with Armenian history, culture, and traditions. On the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of the liberation of the ancient capital city “Shushi” in Karabagh in 1995, the group adopted the name “Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble.”

Today, eighteen years later, the group has flourished to 134 dancers consisting of elementary, high school, college students, and young professionals. Most of these dancers are American born and represent Armenian youth from various parishes in the New York/New Jersey area. The group meets each week to practice, under the leadership of Seta Paskalian-Kantardjian, Choreographer and Artistic Director of the group, who is well-respected for her meritorious career in dance, and tremendous dedication to teaching Armenian dance, in various venues.

These past seventeen years have proven to be quite memorable for the ensemble. Its members have had the opportunity to perform on numerous occasions for both Armenian and non-Armenian audiences, with great success. To name a few, Shushi performed at Khor Virab in July of 2000 for an international audience of 3000 youth in honor of the 1700th Anniversary of Armenia’s adoption of Christianity. As a result of this performance, Shushi was featured in the March 2004 issue of The National Geographic. On October 30-31, 2004, Shushi had two performances in Montreal, Canada on the occasion of the grand reopening of the renovated AGBU center. On May 1st, 2005, Shushi commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with the renowned musician Ara Gevorgian. On July 14, 2005, Shushi performed in the capital city of Yerevan, Armenia, and on July 18, 2005 in Stepanakert, Karabagh.

The year 2006 was quite eventful for the group. Shushi had many performances in different venues with the biggest one on October 15th, 2006 at Felician College. On December 3rd, 2006 Shushi had its west coast debut in Pasadena, CA dedicated to the Tekeyan Cultural Association's 60th Anniversary.

In September 2007, Shushi Dance Ensemble kicked off its 15th anniversary by joining two renowned Armenian superstars, Shushan Petrosyan and Tigran Petrosyan at the Millennium Theatre in Brooklyn, NY. In January 2008, Shushi performed at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Holy Martyr's Armenian Church. On April 12th, Shushi performed in Montreal Canada, sponsored by the AGBU, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AGBU Montreal. The following day, April 13th, Shushi had its debut performance in Toronto Canada, sponsored by AGBU Toronto, dedicated to the Armenian Genocide.

On July 3rd, 2008, in its third trip to Yerevan, Shushi successfully celebrated its 15th anniversary at the famed Opera House, under the patronage of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. Also, during this trip, the ensemble had the honor to perform for the Armenian Army at Nubarashen, a military base in the suburbs of Yerevan, on July 6th, 2008.

Shushi kicked off its 2008-2009 season in New York City on Sunday October 12th at the 40th anniversary celebration of the consecration of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral. On this occasion, the ensemble delivered a very special program at a commemorative luncheon and tribute at Kavookjian Hall. In January 2009, the ensemble had two spectacular performances on the week-long Armenian Heritage Cruise, joined by renowned singers from Los Angeles, Hovig Krikorian and Armen Hovanessyan, along with musical director Andranik Mouradian.

The 18th season of the ensemble proved to be one of the most exciting and adventurous. First, the ensemble participated in this year's Armenia Fund Telethon, dedicated to the town of Shushi, on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2009. The show aired live worldwide Los Angeles, CA. Next, Shushi will had its debut performance in Chicago celebrating the 15th anniversary of Parev Monthly newspaper on November 28th. The start of 2010 was marked by two performances in Orlando, Florida. On January 16, the ensemble had an afternoon performance planned with the St. Garabed Church, and in the evening, Shushi had the thrilling opportunity to perform at Walt Disney World. On March 27th, Shushi performed in White Plains, New York, sponsored by St. Gregory Armenian School of White Plains. Finally, in July of 2010, the ensemble embarked on a thrilling three week Middle East tour with 4 sold out performances in 4 cities...Amman Jordan hosted by the Armenian Watany Sporting Club, Damascus & Aleppo Syria, and Beirut Lebanon, all hosted by the local AGBU-AYA chapters.

Stayed tuned for exciting upcoming events & performances in Shushi's 19th season!