About the Choreographer
Artistic Director & Choreographer Of The Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble
The following was published in the Armenian Reporter as a "thank you" from members of the Shushi Dance Ensemble to Seta Paskalian-Kantardjian.
Members of the Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble and their parents would like to congratulate Seta Paskalian-Kantardjian on all her hard work and dedication to our ensemble. We are so proud of all your distinguished accomplishments and of the remarkable performance on october 15th, 2006. Your diligent work to instill the Armenian spirit in the hearts and souls of the dancers is greatly appreciated by every single one of us. We are all very proud and pleased to be a part of this incredible ensemble and wish you many more years of success with this group.
- Armenian Reporter 10/28/2006
Dance has been an integral part of Seta Kantardjian's life since the age of five. By the age of seven, she had already performed on Lebanese television. Seta's first experience teaching dance came at the age of ten when she instructed her classmates in cultural dancing. By the age of twelve, she had become so proficient that she began teaching dance to the AGBU students in the suburbs of Beirut. The resulting group won first place in a local dance competition. Later that same year, Seta participated in the Lebanese Baalbeck Festival and was featured in the major role of the young Sabah.
Seta continued her dance career winning first prize in all AGBU and Tekeyan Cultural Association dance competitions. In addition, she continued teaching dance in Armenian as well as non-Armenian schools.
Under her leadership the BESG high School won first prize at American University of Beirut's Folk Dance Competition in 1970.
Inspired by her brother Sarkis Paskalian, Seta continued dancing after immigrating to the United States. She became a soloist and dance assistant to AGBU's Antranig Dance Ensemble. She also taught dance in various Saturday Armenian Schools in the Metropolitan New York area.
Seta has been involved in every aspect of the group's performances since the ensemble's formation in 1992. In 2013, Seta's achievements earned her membership to the International Dance Council CID at UNESCO, the official world-wide organization for dance, which distinguishes her as one of the leading professionals on an international level.
In July of 2015, during Shushi's unprecedented trip to Russia, Armenia & Karabagh, Seta was awarded the St. Sahag-St. Mesrob medal by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and the Komitas medal by Dr. Heranush Hakopyan, RA Minister of Diaspora, in recognition of her contributions to the cultural and educational life of the Armenian community in metropolitan New York/New Jersey.
Seta’s most recent performances were in 2016 at the AGBU 110th anniversary premiere program of “HOKIS” where she joined over 70 performers in an unforgettable spectacle fusing traditional Armenian performance art with modern acrobatics and technology, under the direction of French-Armenian filmmaker and producer Patrick Malakian. The first show was at the City Center in New York in October 2016, followed by the same program at the Yerevan Opera House in December 2016.
Despite her busy life, Seta always makes time to continue inspiring young Armenians in the thing she loves most - Dance. Continual support from her husband Zareh, and her son Ara, help her achieve her goals.