At the invitation of the embassies in Armenia and Turkey, David Dorfman Dance traveled to central Asia to tour Unsettled at the Khachatryan Theater in Yerevan, Armenia and the Zorlu Performance Center in Istanbul, Turkey earlier this week. With State Department funding, DDD was able to reunite with Turkish Company Korhan Basaran and their Armenian dance friends to restage the collaboration that took place at the Bates Dance Festival last summer, and was performed to rave reviews at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Fishman Space. Unsettled began with a tour to Tajikistan, Armenia, and Turkey last spring, sponsored by DanceMotion USA (under the auspices of the Department of State and BAM), and its theme of forgiveness and reconciliation runs close to the company’s creative hearts. To allow the involvement of worldwide audiences and to DDD’s delight, Saturday night’s performance of Unsettled was lived streamed on the Armenian website, azatutyun.am. The company was thrilled to have the chance to reprise their role as ambassadors of cultural diplomacy through their dance.

Photo © Andrea Mohin for The New York Times