by Aida Leon Kado

Guests, parishioners and members of St. Stepanos Armenian Apostolic Church in Long Branch, New Jersey, enjoyed this unique program of “REBIRTH AND TRIUMPH” dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
It was a joyous gathering on Sunday, May 22nd at the Kevork and Sirvart Hovnanian Hall. More than 150 guests arrived to share and witness the performance of our children and young adults, ranging between the ages of six  up to 28 years old,  AKH’Tamar Dance Ensemble was found by a group of parents in 1990, with the sole task that the children of Armenian decent maintain their heritage, roots and origins to flourish in harmony with good citizenship.
Under the tutelage of their director/choreographer, Sylva Asadourian, and chair lady Zvart Gulian they performed 10 different dances in national, colorful hand made costumes, which added an atmosphere of harmony, pleasure and endless fun to the audience. The music, the harmonic movements were so well delivered, you would think that these are professional dancers and not   not  an armature group of youth that practices once or twice a week only.
Thank you Akh’Tamar Dance Ensamble, we cannot wait to see you at your next performance very soon.
God Bless you!