“Karin” Traditional Song and Dance Ensemble was founded in 2001. The founder and the creative director of the group is Gagik Ginosyan, the Honoured Culture Worker of the Republic of Armenia.
The group has occasionally participated in different festivals, contests, TV projects and was honoured with diplomas. Simultaneously it has replenished its concert list by carrying out folkloristic work first in Armenia, then in Armenian diaspora. Periodically it performed solo concerts in Armenian-populated settlements in Georgia and in Artsakh.
“Karin” Traditional Song and Dance Ensemble is a multiple prize-winner of the Republican Festival of Ethnographical Groups, oranaized by the Polytechnical University, and was acknowledged the best in different nominations. It is a laureate of “Paratun” Republican Festival organized by the Armenian Dance Art Union. “Karin” has been honored with a diploma of “Sunny Rain” Panarmenian Festival, organized by Armenia State Philharmonia.
In 2003 “Karin” Traditional Song and Dance Ensemble performed its first solo concert at the Theatre of Musical Comedy after H. Paronyan, presenting to the public their program “The Traveler of Eternity”.
On May 9, 2004 it presented the program “Our Victory”.
In 2005 it held concerts under the title “Mourning is endless, if there is no struggle” in Armenia, Javakhq and Akhaltskha to commemorate the the Armenian Genocide. There was made a musical film headed “Pilgrimage with Songs” with the performance of “Karin” songs and dances and also the video legend “Sasna Tsrer” (directed by Artak Avdalyan).
In 2005 “Karin” Traditional Song and Dance Ensemble, along with the foundation “Our City is our home” and Narekatsi Art Union, started the dance teaching program “We and Our Dances” which teaches the abc of the Armenian dance art to all the devotees of Armenian culture, thus trying to restore the traditional Armenian culture in the everyday life. In 2009 the Gafeschyan foundation and Erevan Polytechnical University joined the program and unselfishly supported the program which has by now gone beyond the borders of Armenia.
In 2007 the first patterns of Armenian ethnographical theatre were staged with the help of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia. In February there was the concert-performance “The Father of Armenian Song”, in May “The Sweet-Smelling Country”.
In 2008 “Karin” Traditional Song and Dance Ensemble was honored with a diploma by the Ministry of Culture of Armenia for preserving and spreading the traditional Armenian culture.
In 2009, still carrying out the folkloristic work, “Karin” staged one more performance headed “Varq Hayots”, based on the poem of Paruyr Sevak “A Man called Mashtots” and the work of Garegin Njhdeh, “The struggle of the sons against the fathers”.
In October, 2010 it performed concerts in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in different Armenian colonies.
In April, 2011 in the International IV Festival of National Dances, which was held in Palma de Mallorka, Spain, “Karin” took the first prize. It performed solo concerts in the Armenian-populated settlements of Spain, then in Turkey, for the Armenian colony of Istanbul. In the same year “Karin” again went on tour to the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2011 “Karin” was once again honored with a diploma by the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, and its creative director got the highest award of the Ministry of Culture, The Golden Medal. On September 21, 2011 the president of the Republic of Armenia, Serjh Sargsyan, highly appreciating the culture-preserving activity of “Karin” and the success they had in the international contest, granted the creative director of “Karin” a title of Honored Culture Worker.
In February, 2012, “Karin” performed a solo concert devoted to the 10th anniversary of the ensemble, which was headed “Dardz Yarmats” (i.e. back to the roots), after which it left for the USA, where it performed its best dances for the Armenian community of Los Angeles, and also led dance-teaching lessons. In June “Karin” showed to the public some new saved songs and dances.
The majority of “Karin” songs and dances have been saved from extinction and restored in their ethnographical form, due to the folkloristic work carried out by the group.
The group leader is the senior scientific worker of the National Academy of Fine Arts, a candidate of fine arts, Tatev Shakhkulyan, the choir master is Sevada Iritsyan.
