Evolution of My Dance
How Desire, determination, dedication, and my passion for dance compelled me to follow my heart despite cultural taboos
by Armineh Keshishian
Founder & CEO of Wealth & Wellness Global
Founder & Artistic Director of Evolution Dance Theatre
The ImageMakers & Influencers Magazine is excited to feature this inspiring true story about Desire, determination, perseverance and how to follow your heart written by Armineh Keshishian.
Armineh is a multi-faceted and brilliant entrepreneur whose aim is to bring increased awareness to the world by encouraging and inspiring everyone to be aligned with their Divine self in order to live their desired life.
This is her true-life story that eventually led to Armineh, a wealth manager, creating and producing a number of multidisciplinary Broadway and Las Vegas-style dance theatre productions since 2006, including Evolution of the Human Kind, Behind the Veil, and Follow Your Heart.
Follow Your Heart is about a modern Middle Eastern woman, Almaza, who is in love with a traditional man, Jivan. Their love is irresistible, yet doomed as he is bound by tradition and his culture. It is a journey of a woman who fights for love against all odds, against her culture and traditions.
Watch a trailer of the “Follow Your Heart” stage production here then read Armineh’s inspiring story of How she made it happen below.
Follow Your Heart by Armineh Keshishian
Armineh’s inspiring true-life story
I still remember it so clearly as if it was yesterday. I heard a mesmerizing sound of music, nothing I had ever heard before. I couldn’t help but move towards the sound. The sun had set, the bright pole lights had captured the sands of the Caspian Sea, as we had gone for vacation that summer. I saw a big crowd gathered to listen to the music. As I went closer, I saw a man playing. I was hypnotized; the instrument was covered in a beautiful bright yellow velvet decorated with glittering sequence and stones. The man was playing music so beautifully on the instrument which appeared to be a combination of a bagpipe, accordion and something else, which to this date I don’t know what it was.
I was haunted by the music and the instrument. I remember a big circle of crowd, where a few people were dancing in the middle. My uncle, my father’s brother was standing next to me. He must have seen my enthusiasm or perhaps my subtle body movements. He said to me to go to the middle and dance. I said no as I was shy, he insisted but it didn’t take much convincing. I must have been around seven years old. I was enraptured by the music. As I began dancing I noticed everyone who was dancing left from the middle, and I was the only one in the center. I recall the sound of music, the crowd’s constant clapping and admiring looks. I felt shy a bit but then I really liked the attention and the fascination the crowd showed me. I was told by my family I had learned dancing before I was able to walk. I guess I often felt the music in my body.
“We hear music in three ways, through our ears, our body, and our soul. When I feel the vibration of music in my body coupled with music that is pleasing to my ears, it takes me to a world of imagination and joy.”
We used to travel often in the summer when I was young. When we were in the Persian Gulf and South of Iran, I heard enchanting Arabic music including similar music I had heard in the Caspian Sea that unforgettable evening. My love for Arabic music was growing by the day. I felt and still do feel joy listening to it. My soul is elated, and I feel ecstatic.
I was born Christian in a Muslim country in the Middle East. Unfortunately, as Christians we were not allowed to be friends with Muslims. To this day, I cannot figure out how cultures could be so biased. My father had Muslim friends but I, as a little girl, could not. When we moved in to a new house, I met our neighbors who were Jewish. I was happy to have found new friends. I was close to two of the sisters, one older than me and one younger. Thinking back it brings a smile to my face. I would invite the older sister to my home, and we would pretend we were belly dancers. I would dance and she would pretend to be the audience and clap for me, and cheer and we would switch roles. Those were such beautiful days!
I was 11 years old when we had a big gathering in our new house. My parents had invited many guests including their siblings and cousins with their families. At some point I put on Arabic music and started dancing. I felt joyous. I saw them all watching me and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. When the dance finished they all turned their faces away from me without a word. I was shocked and humiliated. No one ever talked to me about whether I should or should not have danced. This incident affected me for many years. I didn’t understand the reasons for their reactions.
Fast forward a few years later, I asked my father if I could go abroad. He said if I pass the difficult student exam he will allow me. I did. Many years later my father told me he didn’t think I would pass the exam, but he had promised. He asked me where I wanted to go. I was considering England, USA and Canada without my parents influencing my decision.
I left the Middle East as a teenager with my younger sister and came to Canada. Can you imagine my parents sending out two of their three children to a foreign land? They wanted my sister with me so that I would not be alone. What a sacrifice!
We arrived in Toronto, Canada. I was excited to embrace my new life and adventure into the unknown. It was a difficult time as we were both homesick and neither of us could speak English! However, we pressed on, went to school, adapted quickly, joined our community, and made new friends.
I look back on this time and realize all I had was, Desire, Determination, and Dedication, which I call my 3D's. I also realize that being born a Christian in a Muslim Middle Eastern country gave me extraordinary insights into different cultures, insights which help me to this day. Although the cultures and values vary, I find that basic human needs, desires, and emotions are not really that different and that we are one human race.
My life is influenced by my mother who was an independent woman who encouraged me to have a higher education and be financially independent, and yet she, herself, was a woman of tradition. My father taught me leadership. Because I did not want to follow the traditional rules and regulations as a socially obliging Middle Eastern girl, I went on to find my own path and empowerment.
After graduation I entered into the financial industry; a male dominated industry. I loved financial consulting and wealth management. A few years later I was searching for something more. I subscribed to a ‘psychic’ reading and it was suggested to take art or dance classes. I thought forget art classes. Dance classes… uhm, what kind of dance classes? Ah, of course belly dance classes. I inquired about a couple of different dance schools, and I joined one. Supposedly I knew how to belly dance but when I was taking classes I was discovering muscles in my body that I didn’t know existed despite the fact I was fit and played sports.
I was excited. I took group classes first. I remember my first recital. My teacher had choreographed a dance piece for me and had videotaped my rehearsal. When I watched the video I thought I was extremely tense, how was that possible? I knew I was smiling in my heart, but my facial expressions were totally the opposite. I recall my first recital with a paid audience, mostly the parents, siblings, friends, and supporters of the students. I was quite nervous performing on stage and I couldn’t stop my jaw from tremoring.
I continued taking weekly classes and very soon increased them to two and then three times a week. I added private classes to my schedule while I was running a successful wealth management business. I took a variety of Middle Eastern dance classes for a few years but danced in recitals only. Additionally, I took modern and jazz classes at different schools.
The school I was studying at, was running an agency as well providing entertainment through belly dance and Middle Eastern dance artists for weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations. After a few years of taking classes, everyone was asking me to participate and perform in public. My answer was always,“no.” Although I was born Christian and participated in kinder garden and primary school annual performances dancing and acting, belly dancing was and still is taboo. It is a taboo to dance in public, especially if you are from a good, respected family. I couldn’t bring myself to belly dance in public despite the fact I was trained in advanced and performance classes. My love for belly dance was beyond anything I had experienced.
“To me, belly dancing was and still is the ultimate dance of a woman where I can be sensual, powerful, playful, graceful, or whatever I wish to be; a dance form to embrace and embody my feminine as a Goddess.”
Due to cultural prohibitions very few Middle Eastern and Egyptian belly dancers totally embrace their art or perform in public.
The school I was taking classes at, opened up a dance theatre. It was beautiful, filled with Egyptian and Moroccan artifacts, unusual and unique décor, with a large stage providing Middle Eastern dinner and show. The show included belly dance and a variety of Middle Eastern dances. Everyone was asking me if I was going to perform, and my answer was always, “no.”
Prior to me taking any form of dance classes I recall my father had come to Canada for a visit while I was running my business in financial planning and wealth management. During our conversations, I told him I really desired to have a high-class chic dinner and show club providing entertainment. My father immediately rejected the idea, painting a negative picture which caused me to never consider it.
“When Your Intention Is Clear, Magic Happens”
Everyone insisted that I perform at the new dance theatre, including my teachers who were the owners; a Middle Eastern husband and wife. The venue was only open on Saturdays and some Fridays for dinner and shows, otherwise it was available as a banquet hall for private functions. After some consideration, I told them I would be willing to be the hostess, greeting the guests. They liked the idea and I was jubilant. Of course, it was without pay as we never spoke about money.
I had a tremendous amount of fun and excitement. What is interesting is that I wanted to own a club with dinner and a show and I was able to experience the joy without having the challenges of casting artists, the business management and the financial commitments. I always say when your intention is clear, magic happens. I am grateful to have been granted a miracle by the Universe.
I dressed up in gorgeous caftans, beautiful jewelry and head pieces. I was courteous, kind, and joyful as I greeted the guests, and watched the shows. It was amusing when the guests thought that I was the owner and or the choreographer of the entire show.
I was having fun taking dance classes and being a hostess, but the pressure was building as everyone in the school including the owners were asking me to perform. One day I met a woman in the school who was taking classes from another branch. We became friends and discussed our dance journeys. She asked me if I was going to perform at the dance theatre and I told her about our culture and how it was a taboo. I shared with her the incident I had experienced when I was eleven years old. Tears came down my face and I couldn’t stop crying. To my surprise, I had held on to the hurt for years. I talked about the details of how everyone seemed to be enjoying my dance at our home but yet no one, not the women, not the men or even the children acknowledged me in any sort. She was a quite well-read and observant woman who said that my dance invoked something in them, that they didn’t want to admit in themselves, and were not going to accept me for it either.
I still think of those words at times. I began considering that perhaps I can entertain the idea of dancing in public. Every time I was serious about making the decision to dance my body would go to a freeze mode and my joy would be expelled. Part of me was eager to perform and yet a deep-rooted part of me was rejecting the possibility.
One day one of our far family members, an elderly woman, came to visit. I told her I was taking belly dance classes. I had special-ordered white iridescent beads from Egypt and I was in a middle of designing a breathtaking belly dance belt and a bra with ‘simulated’ diamonds and pearls for my new costume to dance at the recitals. She was exhilarated and told me how beautiful it was. I shared with her how uneasy I felt about dancing and how everyone was asking me to dance. I never forget what she said to me because she was truly instrumental in helping me make a decision. She said, “My dear if you don’t dance it’s going to be a waste!”
Her words kept ringing in my ears. That summer after a long time of soul searching I finally decided to perform in public. It was truly a difficult decision emotionally.
As soon as I told my school/agency that I was ready to perform they put me on the show. At times in the middle of a performance, I would catch myself thinking ‘What are you doing? Aren’t you ashamed?’ I accepted the fact that I had made a decision and needed to go through the process.
My very first show outside the dance theatre was a wedding. While I was dancing there were four to five cameras video graphing me. They were so close to me that I thought they were taking up my space. But I did enjoy all that attention and cheer. After the dance, a few people were waiting to get my autograph. I was stunned. Two young girls around six /seven years old told me how much they enjoyed my dance and how beautifully I danced. When children give you a compliment you know you touched their hearts with joy as they are truthful and innocent.
The second time I was booked by the agency to dance was for a wedding with five hundred invited guests. I had a fabulous time as the groom with the ushers came to the floor to dance with me. Actually, it is the dancer who invites the groom to dance with her. After the show a woman approached me with a compliment and said she was the one who had made a request for me to perform that night. I told her I didn’t think she had seen my dance before because I had just started performing. She said she had seen me dance in a recital. I was astonished to hear it; I was invited to perform in a big wedding where the groom is Middle Eastern and familiar with the dance form.
As I continued dancing I was able to embrace my public performances and feel more empowered. Hearing how my passion and love for belly dance ignited joy in others, gave me strength and courage. There was always an exchange of energy between myself and the audience, an indescribable feeling. I remember one of my teachers told me, “once you get a taste of that stage, there is nothing like it!”
My parents had already moved to Canada a few years prior to my public performances. My father didn’t even want to hear that I was taking belly dance classes let alone knowing I was performing. My mother would talk to me about it and at times would say just focus on your financial consulting and wealth management business instead of spending so much time on dancing.
I left the dance theatre and the agency in less than a year of performing. My performances were limited to their discretion and mostly their choreographed music. I felt boxed in, especially that the pay was less than the market rate. I wasn’t dancing for money, but I was paying for classes to dance to their specified choreographed music. I didn’t have a say in the choreography and I had to follow it even if I didn’t like it. By that time wherever I had performed I was given a lot of compliments and invitations to other opportunities.
“Our Thoughts And Desires Are Truly Potent”
After I left I still continued my dance studies in other schools. Right away I was invited to dance with a live band after seeing me perform once. They also introduced me to a venue with weekly belly dance shows with various live bands. I began performing there every weekend and would get booked through the venue as well. In addition, I had the opportunity to perform in smaller story-telling productions. I remember when I was younger, I had desired to perform in a beautiful belly dance costume for friends in a private setting just once. I would have never dreamt that one day I would be the hired entertainer. Our thoughts and desires are truly potent. I was a financial consultant, a wealth manager by day, and a performer by night.
Although I was making money performing, my focus was on being able to fully embrace myself. Truth be told I was hiding behind my financial consulting and would tell everyone dancing was a hobby. As I was busy performing every weekend, I stopped participating in family gatherings and spending time with my parents and family. I would decline all non-dance/performance-related invitations which caused my parents to be upset with me. In particular, as I have Armenian heritage my parents couldn’t draw the dots between the connection of belly dance with our culture.
I was consumed! My time was used performing, rehearsing, exercising, listening to different and new Arabic music, designing new costumes for myself, taking different workshops in different cities, countries and studying different techniques, a fusion of dance forms and the art. I spent much more money on new costumes, buying music and workshops than I was making performing. I had a sculpted and beautiful body and yet I was so critical of my appearance. I was journaling my feelings and my performances, recording how the color of my costumes affected me in each performance. I would critic myself after each dance and asking the band if I danced well. Although they would say yes part of me was still not satisfied and I would take steps to improve. It was a time-consuming passion. I would take time to exercise and get ready for each individual show, put on full makeup and get ready emotionally. I admit I loved it and I loved the glamour. My creativity was heightened, so I began writing stories.
After two years of dancing I lost interest in performing. I had already embraced the fact that no culture or society can dictate what I can or cannot do by following my heart. I was still pursuing the belly dance world and keeping up-to-date with the new trends and workshops.
At some point before I had decided to perform in public I had written that I desired to create dance theatre productions. In early 2000, as I let my imagination and muse soar, I had two pieces of partially choreographed stories. After some time I decided to start casting and get ready for a production with no specific date in mind. I had made a new friend who had just come to live in Canada. An Arab woman who was one of my early supporters. She convinced me, I can choreograph well.
The cast was a combination of professionals and semi-professionals. We only rehearsed on Sundays. The story had a beginning and an end with a big un-choreographed middle. We danced every weekend, and had fun. After a few months of rehearsing and exploring, I set the date for three nights in October and again three nights in November for our premiere show called Evolution … of the Human Kind.
The pressure was building up. We had a cast of 15 including myself. It was a matter of costumes, music, choreography, venue, stage management, lighting, photography, videography, storytelling, brochures, programs and the overall production. Although I had an approximate budget for the show, I was absorbed in the process and didn’t think much about it. I didn’t have a dance school and I was not a full-time dancer and yet I was going to put on a full show. Everyone was waiting to see what I would do and how I would pull it off.
Our first show was on a Friday night. I remember distinctly on Thursday morning before the show I was sitting on my chaise lounge sipping my coffee. I heard a loud voice, “Congratulations! You passed the first test.” Surprised I asked; “How many tests are there?” The voice said: “Three.” That was Spirit, Higher Consciousness, or Universe!
Our first show was phenomenal. The audience loved it. I had a really interesting experience as the Artistic and Executive Director dealing with different characters and the overall production process.
One of my own dance pieces was quite demanding. It was called ‘The Black Cobra’. In mythology, it was perceived that a human can transform into a serpent and back to a human interchangeably. The duet between the cobra and the snake charmer represented the relationship between a man and a woman. I played the cobra. Just a day or two prior to our November show I had accidentally slipped into a split and was having a hard time walking. Regardless of my pain, I performed, but right after the first show I fell down. I simply could not stand on my feet. I think the pressure and the anxiety of the production were affecting my body.
Before the performance I drank a few shots of cognac at different intervals to prevent blood clots and took pain killers although not the best combination. My first dance was a belly dance with a candelabra on my head with lit candles. I was not worried about it too much because all I had to do was balance the candelabra. However ‘The Black Cobra’ dance included a combination of snake moves with body undulations while on my toes and some lifts. I needed to jump, be lifted, and twirled. I had told my dance partner, the snake charmer, if you see a delay in my dance it means I cannot move. As we were quite in tune, everything worked out. At the very end of the dance, which was the last dance of the show, I simply couldn’t stand on my feet to finish it and I wanted to change the choreography to have the finale on the floor as the serpent. He was a true professional and an artist, he kept me leaning on him and holding me with dance moves so that we could finish the dance standing upright.
Memories… As I write, tears cover my face and I think about everything I went through to get to that point. After the show, our first official production, I felt I had given all my strength, all my energy, my body, my creativity, my spirit, and my money and that I had nothing left to give. In the meantime, everyone else was so excited and wanted to know when our next show was.
After about a month or two, I got energized and my spirit and passion came forward again. To stop now? No way! Our show had gotten some attention because of the way I had written the story, had mixed in some dance ideas and choreographies that normally were not seen in a Middle Eastern show and additionally had brought in male cultural dancers. It was quite unique.
I was excited to improve and revise the show and perform it again in my favorite historical venue which was quite pricy. In addition, all the crew were union members which meant an additional expense. By then I wanted to change some of the female dance artists. The male dancers who were all part of one cultural group didn’t want to participate anymore because they wanted to perform only in their own cultural group. So we started casting again. I approached many cultural dance groups to hire their male dancers.
I was witnessing cultural segregation in addition to listening to people asking me why I would want to incorporate different dance forms. The questions included what the connection was with my own cultural background. I pushed ahead and was able to deliver the revised version of Evolution… of the Human Kind. After this production my Spirit had another message. Test #2 was that I needed to produce shows one to three more times.
I was totally driven to create and showcase those productions, I felt compelled beyond comprehension. There was no stopping as my Spirit was in charge. I attempted the final version of “Evolution … of the Human Kind”. Again the cast was different, and we added quite a few additional artists and a few children. I had expanded the show to incorporate new dances and ideas including additional crew and designers. A year later, we performed it one night for a full house. It was a great success.
A few months later I wrote another story called Behind the Veil. The story was built upon our previous productions, and we performed it with a big cast, new and added costuming, new dances and new music. We were getting noticed by the media as all our shows were about power and choice; breaking all barriers of ethnicity, culture and religion in light of the human spirit.
After this show, I shifted my focus to my financial business and took a break from creativity and productions. As much as I was enjoying the calm lifestyle and the financial blessings, my Spirit was restless. I felt something was missing.
I slowly began writing a new story called Follow Your Heart. I pulled my strength together and interviewed and cast artists internationally, hired a new crew and designers, had new costumes made and set a date for the new show to be performed. I had decided I was not going to perform anymore.
After months of preparation things didn’t work out as planned. I had to cancel the show at the last hour. I was disappointed and disheartened. It was heartbreaking! It was extremely difficult for me specially the emotional loss. The cast was upset with me. It was burdensome because the artists were looking forward to performing. A couple of key people in the production didn’t come through, however, I do take responsibility for what happened.
For me, the loss was multifold, the creation didn’t come to fruition, the financial loss, as I paid everyone, the loss of support from some of the cast members and the betrayals. As I reflect, the show was not meant to happen at that time.
I had already passed the first and the second test set by my Spirit. There was no indication of anything else I was supposed to follow yet. But I felt compelled to do it again. It required all sorts of resources; artistic resources, financial resources, human resources and above all my high vibrational energy. One day I decided I was ready to create and produce the Follow Your Heart show again. I felt I had the energy required for the task. It felt good and that I had the go ahead from the Divine.
Sponsorship for a show with that magnitude was necessary. We invited a couple of new members to our board of directors and prepared sponsorship packages. My focus was on the show, and I couldn’t fully commit to approaching sponsors. To look for sponsorship is more than a full-time job. The show date was set. As we came closer to the show time we didn’t have the sponsorship dollars. Board members were asking me to delay the show until the funds are in. I thought we still had a few months left before the show and hopefully some sponsorship dollars would come in. The truth was that I simply couldn’t wait until we do the show again!
In the meantime I was still running a financial consulting and wealth management business and I had to attend to client meetings.
As I had previously built some relationships, I approached them with the new show ideas while building new relationships to manage different departments required for the show. My passion had ignited the spark and love of everyone involved in the production. To me it was about the energy of the collective and the ability to work well together while having fun. I revised the script to be more elaborate, I hired a dramaturge, got the help of a seasoned modern dancer with production experience, added judges to our casting committee and travelled to a couple of different cities to cast, added live musicians and film to the production.
Casting was a challenge. Belly dance is an individual dance form showcasing the beauty and technique of the dancer with the attention being focused on the dancer alone. I was creating a “Middle Eastern ballet” and adding a fusion of genres with interpretive movements.
Amidst all the excitement and chaos unfortunately my father passed away a few short months before the show. I was sad. One evening two years after his passing during my meditation, I got connected to his energy. He was extremely angry. I felt his enormous anger he had held in his belly towards my dancing in public. I could not believe it and was quite surprised that he never truly expressed his rage. I am glad he didn’t because it would have made it more difficult for me. I think this was real love!
As I had made a commitment to the show, I had to push through. I had a lot of help, and everyone involved was fully committed as well. I was the glue in the center that held everyone together. Two separate rehearsals were set simultaneously for six consecutive weeks leading up to the performance.
Our multidisciplinary dance theatre production of Follow Your Heart was finally performed with an international cast and crew of more than seventy five with success! If we consider everyone who was involved in the production, that number rises to one hundred. Follow Your Heart is a Broadway-style Middle Eastern spectacle with dances of different genres, acting, haunting music both live and recorded, elaborate costuming, storytelling, pre-recorded videos to give the back drop of the story, set décor, digital media, special effects and beautiful imagery to transport the audience on a wondrous journey into the depths of human spirit.
Test #3 was about cooperation and collaboration. I ended up being the executive producer of the show. Funds have always been available for our shows as Universe always provided. To date, over the years I have spent one million dollars of my own money on these productions. Part of me wanted to prove as a Middle Eastern woman I have what it takes to dance, to create, to produce and make a community, simply because I desire it and I follow my heart!
My aim is to bring people and cultures together by focusing on our commonalities vs. our differences. I have a deep desire for cultural interchange. I am inspired by concepts of women’s empowerment, diversity, multiculturalism and breaking down archetypal traditions.
Follow Your Heart is about a modern Middle Eastern woman, Almaza, who is in love with a traditional man, Jivan. Their love is irresistible, yet doomed as he is bound by tradition and his culture. It is a journey of a woman who fights for love against all odds, against her culture and traditions. What starts as a love story of taboo and tradition in Toronto travels to the Middle East and back again, to end up in a world where other cultures and traditions join in to help their love prevail. One heartbeat, One culture, One race!
Follow Your Heart got the attention of some producers just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world. My hope is that we take the show to Las Vegas!