YEREVAN — The Yerevan State Choreographic College of Dance is one of my favorite places in our city; the office of its director exudes high art and taste. Since the end of last year, one of our best dancers, Davit Galstyan, has been working in that cozy room. Still young, at 38, and full of charm, Davit follows the footsteps of our outstanding ballet artists, Vilen Galstyan and Nadezhda Davtyan, both of whom have passed away. He studied at the Yerevan Choreographic College and the Royal Ballet School in London, from which he graduated with a gold medal, being recognized as one of the best students of the school for three years. In 2004-2022 he was the soloist of the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse (France). He performed leading roles in a number of classical and new classical ballets, participated in several gala-concerts, festivals and tours of European ballet stars in many countries: also danced in performances of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theater.
Davit, you have been in charge of your alma mater dance college for more than half a year. What changes have you managed to make?
Most importantly, two new one-act ballets were staged: the third act of “Raymonda” from the classic repertoire and my own staging “Back to the Roots” with music by Knudage Riesager. We had three performances on the college stage, the tickets were almost completely sold: the public demanded from us to repeat the performances, but we did not do it so as not to overburden the schoolchildren. This year we celebrated Aram Khachatryan’s 120th anniversary, with the partnership of the Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet Theater and Khachatryan’s house-museum, which provided us with unique film footage with Khachatryan’s participation. It was a very good evening, the sections of classical and folk dance were presented from the performances of Vilen Galstyan, Norayr Mehrabyan and Vanush Khanamiryan from Khachatryan’s works. Also, with the cooperation of the Zark Foundation, we celebrated the 120th anniversaries of our ballet dancers Azat Gharibyan and Tereza Grigoryan in Yerevan and Gyumri. My wish is that our college should be maximally active in community events and regions. On April 29, we also participated in the International Dance Day concert on the stage of the Opera and Ballet Theater. I attach great importance to our children being able to dance on the big stage, since it motivates them and awakens other feelings in them. There are many projects, but it all depends on funding.
This year, the modern department of the college also had its first alumni. With great pleasure, I watched the graduation performances: Ara Asaturian’s “The Prophecy” and Rima Pipoyan’s “Dido and Aeneas.” They were truly original performances that can easily enter the repertoire of any theater.
Yes, our graduates made a great impression, they are a ready-made dance troupe. I am very sorry that in our country we still do not have a modern dance repertory, a suitable theater for contemporary dancers. Unfortunately, this resource of talented young people has no place to fully manifest itself. It would be wonderful if one day we had a college-affiliated youth group, both modern and classical, that would serve as a trampoline to the big stage.
Let’s hope that it will happen. Entering the college, certain technical changes are also noticeable.
