Norayr Mehrabyan

Norayr Gurgeni Mehrabyan was born on 4 January 1941 in Yerevan, then the capital of the Armenian SSR. His patronymic shows that his father's name was Gurgen. Friends and colleagues called him Norik. He began training at the Yerevan Choreographic School as a child; his ensemble biography and Armenian Wikipedia give 1946 as the year he entered the school.

Mehrabyan was a graduate of the Yerevan Choreographic School, now the Yerevan State College of Dance, where he received his classical ballet training. He later returned to the same school as its artistic director and as a teacher of classical dance.

After graduating he joined the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet Theatre in Yerevan as a soloist. From 1959 to 1969 his roles included Karen in Khachaturian's Gayane, the Jester in Swan Lake, the Bridegroom in Khandut, Vanechka in Doctor Aybolit, a comrade of Spartacus in Spartacus, Nurali in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, the pas de deux in Giselle, Styopa in Chopchopik, Walpurgis Night from Gounod's Faust, Paolo in Francesca da Rimini, the Jester in Cinderella, the Black Force in Konstantin Orbelyan's Immortality, Basilio in Don Quixote, Vrezh in Akhtamar and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. In 1970 he was invited to Leonid Yakobson's Choreographic Miniatures company in Leningrad, dancing in works set to Mozart, Bach, Rossini, Stravinsky and Boris Tishchenko until 1972. Back in Armenia he also danced leading roles with the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia, in pieces such as Avetisyan's Joke Dance and Caravan and Khachaturian's Waltz and Mountaineers.

From 1973 to 1983 Mehrabyan was artistic director of the Yerevan Choreographic School and taught classical dance there. His early stagings included the fourth movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40, Bizet's Youthful Symphony, Khachaturian's Russian Dance, Avetisyan's Awakening, Beethoven piano variations and the two-act children's ballet Chopchopik. From 1984 to 1986 he led the ballet company of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1987 he founded the Barekamutyun State Dance Ensemble of Armenia and served as its artistic director for 38 years. In a 2012 interview he said the ensemble had staged around 100 works, most of them his own. From 2022 to 2023 he directed Barekamutyun within the National Center of Folk Music and Dance, then served as the Center's artistic adviser for dance from 2023 to 2024.

Mehrabyan created dance groups and programmes for Armenian communities abroad, including at the Nor Serund cultural union in Beirut, the Melkonian school in Cyprus, Hamazkayin's Sardarapat group in Aleppo and Hamazkayin's Ani dance group in Los Angeles, with which Barekamutyun worked for around 20 years. He also worked with the Yeraz dance group in Paris, whose repertoire includes many of his stagings.

Mehrabyan lived and worked mainly in Yerevan. Details about his spouse and children have not been made public in the sources consulted. Official condolence messages were addressed to his family, relatives, colleagues and students.

Mehrabyan saw culture as the core of any artistic work. Speaking to Aravot in 2012 for Barekamutyun's 25th anniversary, he said that wherever the ensemble toured it had represented Armenia, its art and its culture at a high level, and that audiences were surprised to find a new word in style, language and culture coming from Armenia. He added: "If there is no culture in what you do, it is meaningless." He also spoke of his wish for the ensemble to have its own theatre and stage, and of the need to always keep one's head held high.

Mehrabyan is credited with bridging classical ballet and Armenian national dance, and with training generations of dancers in Yerevan and in diaspora communities. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called Barekamutyun one of Armenia's most distinctive dance ensembles and the best reflection of its founder's creative vision. Works such as The Apricot Tree, Sabre Dance, Mountaineers and Nocturne remain in the repertoire of ensembles he founded or worked with.

Honoured Artist of the Armenian SSR (1976). People's Artist of Armenia (2006). Movses Khorenatsi medal (2006). Komitas medal of the Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia (2011). Honorary Citizen of Yerevan (2020). Gold medal of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (2024). Order of Saint Mesrop Mashtots (2026). He also received gold commemorative medals from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Diaspora and Yerevan City Hall.

Mozart: Symphony No. 40 (fourth movement). Gluck: Gavotte. Beethoven: Piano Variations. Bizet: Youthful Symphony. Shostakovich: The Dwarf's Dream. Paganini: Variations. Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso. Sakellari: Chopchopik. Rossini: Tarantella. Orff: Carmina Burana. Sayat-Nova: Ashkharums and Eshkhemed. Komitas: The Apricot Tree, Krunk, Vagharshapat Dance. Babajanyan: Nocturne. Khachatur Nersisyan: Game Dance, Elegy. Avetisyan: The Blooming Cherry Tree, Awakening. Yeranyan: Cilicia. Khachaturian: Sabre Dance, Pink Girls, Spring in Yerevan, Uzundara, Lezginka, Shalakho, Waltz, Russian Dance, Mountaineers. Tigran Mansurian: Melody. Edgar Hovhannisyan: Pagan Dances. Avet Terterian: Yerablur. Loris Tjeknavorian: The Death of the Last Centaur. Dances for the rock operas Seven Gods, Gregory the Illuminator and Jesus Christ Superstar and the pop opera Lilith.

Norayr Mehrabyan died on 13 November 2026, aged 85. The National Center of Folk Music and Dance and the Yerevan State College of Dance announced his death the same day, and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport expressed condolences. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a condolence message and decided to form a government funeral commission. The cause and place of death and funeral arrangements were not stated in the first reports.