How Armenian Folk Dance Helped Sustain The Diaspora

"'The two means of expression, outside of being a member of the church, to mark you as an Armenian are dance and food,' [dance historian] Gary Lind-Sinanian says. 'Those are the two every Armenian family practices to some degree.' Still, every village seemed to have its own style, he said. 'When people make their pilgrimages to some monastery for a festival, they could see, when various groups danced to a melody, by the way they danced, you could tell where they came from. It still happens today at Armenian-American conventions. You could have a dance taking place, and someone familiar with regional dances could go through it and say, 'Oh, that group is from Fresno, they're from Los Angeles, that's Chicago, that's Philadelphia, that's Boston.''"

Article source here:Arts Journal