Sarkis Djanbazian

Sarkis Djanbazian (; ), also written as Sarkis Janbazian, (15 January 1913 in Armavir – 11 December 1963 in Tehran) was a Russian-born Iranian-Armenian artist. He was the first male ballet master, dancer, choreographer, producer, as well as the founder of a ballet academy in Iran. After graduation, he worked as a principal dancer, choreographer, and artistic director in Kirov Theatre in Leningrad until July 1938.

Djanbazian left Qazvin for Tehran in 1942. There, he started to give dancing classes in the Armenian Kušeš high school after the lessons had ended, initially for some 150 students.

As the Encyclopedia Iranica lastly states, Djanbazian founded the Folk Dance and Song Ensemble (Goruh-e raqṣ o āvāz-e maḥalli) conducted by maestro Edik Hovespian in 1959. Later on, this ensemble continued their performances under the direction of maestro Hovik Gasparian at the second national dance festival in Iran in 1962. Sarkis Djanbazian died of heart attack at the age of fifty on 11 December 1963 in Tehran. His greatest concern was that his school might not continue after his death. The school remained open and instructors such as Yagāna Šāygān, ʿAbd-Allāh Nāẓemi, Yerjanik Djanbazian, and Zohra Amjadi taught there until Djanbazian's daughter, Anna, returned home after the completion of her dance education in Russia. She took over the academy in 1972 and managed it until 1984, when she left Iran and continued her dance activities in the United States, at the Djanbazian Dance Company in La Crescenta, California.

Personal life In 1950, Djanbazian married Fleur Djanbazian; they had two children, Anna and Albert Djanbazian. Anna received her education in dance first under her father's direction and then continued her training in Russia after her father died.