YEREVAN–VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — Ballet dancer Razmik Marukyan, born in 2000 in Echmiadzin, studied at the Yerevan State College of Choreography from 2009 to 2016. From 2017 to 2020 he was a ballet artist with the Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, and since 2020, he has been a principal soloist. In 2017, at the international Arabesque competition held in Brussels, he won first prize and received the special award for “Most Artistic Performer.” In 2018, at the USA IBC international competition, he received the Jury Sympathy Award; in 2019, at the Young Ballet of the World competition in Sochi, he was awarded second prize and a silver medal. Among his roles on the Yerevan stage are Zvezdich (“Masquerade”), Armen (“Gayane”), Crassus (“Spartacus”), Albrecht (“Giselle”), Basil (“Don Quixote”), Siegfried (“Swan Lake”), the Jester (“The Glass Palace”), Prince Lemon (“Cipollino”), the Aviator (“The Little Prince”), and others. In 2024, at the 18th Arabesque Russian Ballet Competition named after Ekaterina Maximova, held in Perm and bringing together more than 200 artists and choreographers from 14 countries, he was declared the winner and awarded first prize. In 2023–2025 he worked as a guest principal soloist in Georgia, Italy, the USA, Lithuania, and Germany, and since July of last year he has been a premier of the ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre’s Primorsky Stage (Vladivostok).
Dear Razmik, when speaking with dancers I like to quote the words of famous figures about the art of dance. The great Mikhail Baryshnikov once said: “There comes a moment in a young artist’s life when he knows he has to bring something to the stage from within himself. He has to put in something in order to be able to take something.” Do you think that moment has come for you?
I think that when Baryshnikov said this, he meant that one must bring to the stage something that presents you as a distinctive individual. Of course, that has already happened in my career, and each time I go on stage it no longer matters which character you embody — the distinctiveness is your personality. After all, it is not technique that reveals an artist’s individuality; it merely emphasizes it.
Who were your teachers?
I graduated from the class of our distinguished ballet pedagogue Hovhannes Divanyan. I also trained with Arman Balmanukyan, particularly while preparing for competitions. It was Arman who shaped me as a dancer and as an artist.
I have been following your career since 2018. I remember being worried when you were in the army in 2020; I have always considered military service to be a mistake for a ballet artist. How do you remember those two years?
