One of Armenia's great cultural treasures, Armenian dance has a rich history: the beloved circle-dance rooted in ancient Zoroastrian ritual, line-dances steeped in mountain battles and lore, gestures and jumps traceable to medieval mysteries and 19th-century feasts and fairs. Here the renowned Shoghaken Ensemble from Armenia performs traditional dances in all their rhythmic and melodic variety, ranging from the primitive wail of the zurna and driving beat of the large drum (dhol) performed at village weddings to virtuosic turns on the duduk, kamancha, kanon and shvi only possible in the hands of Armenia's master instrumentalists. Includes 36-page booklet on the history of Armenian dance with archival photos.

1. Aparani Par 2. Zangezuri Par 3. Tsamerov Par 4. Alashkerti Kochari 5. Mayroke 6. Naz Par 7. Shalakho 8. Shatakhi Dzernapar 9. Shoror 10. Tamzara 11. Antarayin Tsayner 12. Zurni Trngi 13. Yarkhooshta 14. Ververi

Tigran Ambaryan: kamancha Artur Arakelyan: ud Gevorg Dabaghyan: solo duduk, zurna Aleksan Harutyunyan: vocals Hasmik Harutyunyan: vocals Karine Hovhannisyan: kanon Kamo Khachaturian: dhol Grigor Takushian: dham duduk (drone) Levon Tevanyan: shvi, tav shvi, blul, pku and parkapzuk

The Shoghaken Ensemble, founded by Gevorg Dabaghyan in 1991, has become one of the preeminent traditional music ensembles in Armenia. Dedicated to rediscovering and continuing Armenia's extraordinary folk music history, the group presents music from a broad geographical and historical span using traditional instruments and song styles. The ensemble has performed extensively in Europe, Armenia and throughout the former Soviet Union. The group recently performed on the soundtrack of Atom Egoyan's movie Ararat. In the summer of 2002 Shoghaken performed at the Smithsonian Folk Festival in Washington, DC, and in the spring of 2004 the group performed in an 18-concert tour across the US, including concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Symphony Space in New York and the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia, as well as Harvard University, Cornell University, UC Berkeley and Dartmouth College. Their recording Armenia Anthology (Traditional Crossroads CD 4311) won the AFIM/NARM award for best world music recording of the year in 2003.

Also listen to Armenia Anthology