Vahram Zaryan () is a French

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

, dancer, director, and choreographer of Armenian descent. He is the founder and artistic director of the PERF International Festival, created in June 2019.

Biography

Zaryan studied theatre, body movement, and dance at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. There, he specialized in

, beginning his apprenticeship at the State Theater of Pantomime in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

under the direction of Zhirayr Dadasyan. Zaryan moved to the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, where he studied classical dance with Yves Casati, and Decroux technique with Yvan Bacciocchi at the Studio of Belleville. Zaryan advanced his studies at the École Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French mime artist and actor most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", performing professionally worldwide ...

, being one of the last students to receive a degree from this school. Zaryan was an intern and took graduate courses with

Ariane Mnouchkine Ariane Mnouchkine (; born 3 March 1939) is a French stage director. She founded the Parisian avant-garde stage ensemble '' Théâtre du Soleil'' in 1964. She wrote and directed ''1789'' (1974) and ''Molière'' (1978), and directed ''La Nuit Mira ...

, Carolyn Carlson, Robert Wilson,

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limit ...

Romeo Castellucci Romeo Castellucci (born August 4, 1960) is an Italian theatre director, playwright, artist and designer. Since the 1980s he has been one part of the European theatrical avant-garde. Biography Romeo Castellucci graduated with a degree in painti ...

Krystian Lupa Krystian Lupa (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 November 1943) is a Polish theatre director, set designer, playwright, translator and pedagogue. He has been called "the greatest living European theatre director". He is the recipient of many nation ...

and

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...

. While writing a doctoral dissertation in theater studies at the University of Paris VIII, from 2008 to 2012, he trained at the Sorbonne University in Paris and the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris (

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

CNSMDP The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Jau ...

). Zaryan's research has been attributed to gestural theater and contemporary dance. Zaryan has created a dictionary of "the art of mime and gesture" that collects and preserves specific terms of the art of mime. Zaryan founded "Le Théâtre Suspendu", a company of mimes, with other

school graduates. This company performed signature pieces such as ''Sépia Quartet'', and ''Le Linge Entre Autres'', both in France and abroad. At his company's debut, Zaryan interpreted the role of the "white mime". He performed this and other roles at a gala at the Palais Garnier. The gala was staged in honor of the director

Sergei Parajanov Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Parajanov was born to ...

. The program was a theatrical rendition of this master of Soviet cinema's film, ''The Color of Pomegranates''. Zaryan also interpreted, to critical success, the role of "Vespone" in the

Pergolesi Pergolesi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, (1710–1736), Italian composer, violinist, and organist * Michael Angelo Pergolesi, 18th-century Italian decorative artist {{Surname Italian-langu ...

opera, ''

La Serva Padrona ''La serva padrona'' (''The Maid Turned Mistress'') is a 1733 intermezzo by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) to a libretto by Gennaro Federico, after the Play (theatre), play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 40 minutes long, in two par ...

'' at the Theater of the Tambour Royal in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

."Rencontre avec Vahram Zaryan, artiste de mimodrame"
Fragil website. Zaryan also creates with M. Gentet the performance "Reminiscence / AU CŒUR DE L'OBLIQUE" on the music of the composer Hector Parra. This last creation is presented at the

Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord The Bouffes du Nord is a theatre at 37 bis, boulevard de la Chapelle, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris located near the Gare du Nord. It has been listed since 1993 as a ''monument historique'' by the French Ministry of Culture. History left, ...

during the

Festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

s 2022. Between 2020 and 2022 he also created the performance based on Philippe Schœller's "Trois Preludes" and the show "Géoïde" presented at the

Cabaret Sauvage Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

in Paris. He has recently collaborated with contemporary composers such as Maël Bailly, Vincent Trollet, Januibe Tejera, Juan Arroyo and

Farnaz Modarresifar Farnaz () is a Persian feminine given name. It means "the most elegant and charming in a way that attracts people". People with the name Farnaz include: * Farnaz Shetty, Indian television actress * Farnaz Fassihi, Iranian-American journalist fo ...

NON-MIME

Vahram Zaryan is the pioneer and inventor of a new movement and genre in the art of mime called "Non-Mime". This notion is invented and developed by Vahram Zaryan and his collective, in 2005, to think and create a contemporary approach of miming even more as a new discipline of this classical genre. Asserting a transdisciplinary approach to stage performance, this creation diverges from traditional mime to embrace and even substitute other art forms such as theater, video, reading, visual arts, music, and dance, thus renewing the practice of classical mime, which is no longer predominant.

Compagnie Vahram Zaryan

Zaryan founded the troupe, "Compagnie Vahram Zaryan". Its focus is the development of new mime and

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

movement theater. Zaryan created the work, ''Confessions''. The work has been presented in France and across Europe. In 2010, it was performed at the official closing ceremony of International

Mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

Festival in

Tsaghkadzor Tsaghkadzor (, ) is a resort town and urban municipal community in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is a popular ski and health resort and one of Armenia's most important tourist destinations. It is situated on the eastern side of Mount Teghenis ...

. Soon after, Zaryan's work, ''Mater Replik'' played at L'Atelier du Plateau in Paris. It toured in Europe; in the United States at New York City's

Richmond Shepard Richmond Shepard (24 April 1929 – 2 July 2019) was an American writer, director, producer and mime with a 50-year history in entertainment. He was one of the oldest living working mimes in show business. He built, owned and operated his own th ...

Theatre; and in Russia at La Tete en Bas. In 2012, Zaryan's company was staging the Noëlle Châtelet novel, ''The Head Down'' (2002) as a contemporary mime show. In 2012 and 2013, the Vahram Zaryan Company was associated with Monfort Theatre, Cultural Institution of the City of Paris, and participated in projects funded by the DAC workshops and DASCO, City of Paris. Vahram Zaryan is the co-founder of Collectif Géoïde (Collectif G) with pianist Maroussia Gentet, founded in 2020. Passionate about sharing his art and transdisciplinarity, his research on contemporary theater, Non-Mime and Music communicates with the creation of the piano/performance duet elaborated with the pianist Maroussia Gentet within the framework of Collectif Géoïde.

Performance art

Zaryan makes performance art in museums and international contemporary art galleries. He collaborated with Nina Childress in her work, ''Rideau Vert'' at the Gallery of Bernard Jordan in Paris. He has also staged a performance directed by Dramatic Corporeal Mime and taken from Etienne Decroux. Vahram Zaryan created a video art performance during Melik Ohanian's "Stutterig" exhibition at the CRAC de Sète at Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris in 2015. Vahram Zaryan presents his performance Patrel at the ReTramp

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: * Gallery (surname), a surname Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery ** Online art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ' ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in May 2024 as part of the FesKa.

CREATIONS: performances, contemporary mime, dance, theatre

* ''Le Linge'' (2006) * ''Sepia Quartet'' (2007) Théâtre Suspendu * ''Chaplin'' (2008) * ''Couleurs de la Grenade'' (2009)

* ''La Serva Padrona'' (2011)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), usually referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist, leading exponent of the Baroque; he is considered one of the g ...

* ''Confession'' (2011) * ''ILYA'' (2012) * ''Mater Replik'' (2012 - 2013) * ''Vespone'' (2012) at the

opera * ''

'' (2012) Theater of the Tambour Royal * ''La Tête en bas'' (2014) by Noëlle Châtelet, an adaptation of the novel in contemporary mime * ''Disquiet'' (2016) from '' The Book of Disquiet'' by

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa (; ; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and publisher. He has been described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th c ...

* ''Théâtre'' (2016) by Marcus Borja * ''Oblique Cycle 1'' (2017-2018) * ''Oblique Cycle 2'' (2019-2022) * ''GEOIDE'' performance (2020-2022) * Performances ''Prélude N1'', ''Serpents'', ''Corbeau'' ... Music by Philippe Schoeller (2019-2022) * ''Reminiscence / AU CŒUR DE L'OBLIQU'' with pianist Maroussia Gentet, Music by Hector Parra (2020-2022) * Performance ''Pandora's Box'', with Jean-Etienne Sotty, music:

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher. Life and career Early life and education Mauricio Raúl Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an ...

(2020-2023) * Performance, duo '' Dés-Hommes '' (freely inspired by the novel

The Dice Man ''The Dice Man'' is a 1971 novel by American novelist George Cockcroft, writing under the pen name "Luke Rhinehart". The book tells the story of a psychiatrist who makes daily decisions based on the casting of a die. Cockcroft describes the ...

Luke Rhinehart George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Dice Man,'' the story of a psyc ...

George Cockcroft George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Dice Man,'' the story of a psyc ...

), (2022-2024) * ''Oblique Cycle 3'' (2022-2024) * ''PATREL , Je suis (I am the separate track of my tear)'', 2024 http://vahramzaryan.com/Vahram_Zaryan_Company/PATREL.html

Bibliography

* ''Mystery of Art: Marcel Marceau'' (2013) Originally, ''ՄԱՐՍԵԼ ՄԱՐՍՈՅԻ ԱՐՎԵՍՏԻ ՀՍՏԱԿՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԱՌԵՂԾՎԱԾԸ...'' (Armenia)"ՄԱՐՍԵԼ ՄԱՐՍՈՅԻ ԱՐՎԵՍՏԻ ՀՍՏԱԿՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԱՌԵՂԾՎԱԾԸ"
AZG Daily website. Accessed 26 November 2014 (Armenian). * ''Mater Replik'' (2012)Zaryan V. et a
"Mater Replik, Dossier du spectacle"
2012 p. 3. Accessed 26 November 2014. (French)

References

External links

Vahram Zaryan’s official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaryan, Vahram Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Contemporary dancers French mimes French male stage actors French people of Armenian descent Conservatoire de Paris alumni Paris-Sorbonne University alumni French contemporary artists French choreographers French directors