Arpine Garbooshian (nee Boghikian) in Kessab, 1946.

Kessab - Dances

23/06/23 (Last modified 23/06/23)

This section of our website aims to document and share performances of various traditional Armenian dances that have been preserved by Diasporan communities in the United States. To this end, Houshamadyan is partnering and collaborating with a group of Armenian dance experts who have produced appropriate dance notations for documentation. This group consists of Carolyn Rapkievian (of Bar Harbor, Maine), Susan and Gary Lind-Sinanian (of Watertown, Massachusetts), Tom Bozigian (of Los Angeles, California), and Robert Haroutunian (Sunyside, NY).

Presented here are two dances from Kessab, an Armenian town located in the North-West of Syria. This combination of dances was learned by Tom Bozigian in his youth, in the late 1940s in California from Kessabtsi immigrants.

Formation: a mixed line dance with the leader to the right. Dancers hold little fingers with arms in a 'W' position.

Rhythm: 4/4, 2/4.

Kessab dances | Demonstration and Tutorial

Kessab, early 1920s. Top, left to right: Dickran Boghikian, Arpine Boghikian (Garbooshian), Hagop Boghikian, Serop Ayanian. Seated, left to right: Bedros Katabian, Priest and baby not known, Avedis Katabian.
Kessab. Man standing on the right side is Dickran Boghikian, other men unknown.
A silk belt worn by Avedis Duzdabanyan in Kessab. Brought to Armenia with the family in the 1940s. Currently kept in Yerevan, in the home of Sdepan Apachian.
Arpine Garbooshian (nee Boghikian) and son Armen Garbooshian in Kessab, 1946.