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AMERICA AMERICA “The Dance of Vartan“ is a scene from the film “America America“. Vartan Damadian is one of the main characters in the film. America America (British title The Anatolian Smile—a reference to an ongoing acknowledgement of the character Stavros' captivating smile) is a 1963 American dramatic film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, adapted from his own book, published in 1962. The Dance of Vartan here in my video is not danced by the character Vartan Damadian, but by the well known dancer Miriam Peretz. I admire her dancing, her art, her free dance style, elegance, suppleness, telling stories with her expression virtuosity. ~ MIRIAM PERETZ Miriam Peretz is an internationally acclaimed instructor and performing artist specializing in traditional and contemporary dances from the Silk Road, Middle East & beyond. Coming from a highly diverse dance background Miriam’s form brings together her background in traditional forms of world dance (namely Central Asian, Middle Eastern & Flamenco) with her contemporary training. As a performing artist Miriam is most interested in blurring the lines between audience and performer, creating ritualistic dance art, and working with cross cultural, cross religious and devotional themes. More on her website: ~ THE ORIGINAL VIDEO The original video is from YouTube channel Miriam Peretz. Title: Contemporary Classical Persian Dance Dance and choreography: Miriam Peretz Link: ~ ELIA KAZAN Elia Kazan (born Elias Kazantzoglou, Greek: Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου, September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American director, producer, writer and actor, described by The New York Times as “one of the most honoured and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history“. He was the author of the book America America and the director of the film with the same name, also known as The Anatolian Smile. Elia Kazan was born in Constantinople, to Cappadocian Greek parents. More: ~ BOOK In the book “The Ambivalent Legacy of Elia Kazan: The Politics of the Post-HUAC Films“ the author Ron Briley goes into important background details of the film. On page 149 one can find interesting information about Vartan Damadian, Stavros' friend. It is very actual, because Turkey still denies the Armenian genocide. This genocide has been witnessed by Stavros, the main character of the film, next to Vartan. Google on the name Vartan Damadian. ~ THE MUSIC The music of the film was composed by Manos Hadjidakis. Manos Hadjidakis (Greek: Μάνος Χατζιδάκις; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music. He was also one of the main movers of the “Éntekhno“ song (along with Mikis Theodorakis). In 1960 he received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his song Never on Sunday from the film of the same name. More: ~
