June 3, 2026: The Zoryan Institute announces the release of two new episodes of Dispersion, sitting down and talking with diasporic Armenian dancers and filmmakers to explore how their identities inform their artistic practice. You may listen and find more details about each one below.

Season 4 Episode 3: “Echoes in Eight Counts: How Memory is Embodied Through Folkloric Dance”

Guests: Dance researcher, teacher, and director, Carolyn Rapkievian, and artistic director and choreographer of Sassoun Dance Ensemble, Sevag Avakian.

In this episode, our guests reflect on their personal journeys and the evolution of Armenian dance across the diaspora. They explore efforts to preserve traditional forms alongside the emergence of new, diaspora-born dances, and how performance and teaching actively reshape Armenian historical memory. The conversation highlights dance as both a practice of preservation and celebration, one that carries history forward in exciting ways.

Provided by Sevag Avakian, the photograph above features members of the Sassoun Dance Ensemble performing a choreographed piece.

Provided by Carolyn Rapkievian, the photograph above features dancers at a diaspora festival (credit: J. Urban).

Season 4 Episode 4: “Behind the Lens of Cultural Memory: The Power of Filmmaking to Transcend Single Identitites”

Guests: Award-winning filmmaker, interdisciplinary artist, and curator Emily Mkrtichian, and acclaimed filmmaker and director Hasmik Movsisyan.

In this episode, our guests reflect on how their connections to Armenia have shifted over time, and how film becomes a way of holding onto and passing down memory. They discuss how storytelling has the power to reach people in ways that feel both personal and universal, transcending the boundaries of any singular identity. Along the way, they consider how culture is carried forward, and what it means, as filmmakers, to take on the responsibility of preserving and sharing those stories.

Teaser to Emily Mkrtichian’s film Motherland (2019), telling the story of women in Nagorno-Karabakh, courageously working to clear land mines.

Trailer to Hasmik Movsisyan’s film 250 km (2022), telling the story of a young boy from Artsakh who saved his family by driving 250 kilometres during the 44-day war.

You can find Dispersion on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

We ask that you show your support through a donation to the Institute if you enjoyed these episodes of Dispersion to ensure the Institute can continue programming like this. Please visit here to donate: https://zoryaninstitute.org/donate/

Back to Articles