IAM1176- Artistic Director Brings People and Cultures Together

Armineh Keshishian is the President and Artistic Director of Evolution Dance Theatre which has created and produced a number of multidisciplinary dance theatre productions. Armineh has incorporated her creative skills with her financial knowledge and entrepreneurial discipline and has committed herself as the visionary behind these productions since 2006. She says “I strive to create cultural fusion through art. I am inspired by concepts of women’s empowerment, diversity, multiculturalism, and breaking down archetypal traditions. My aim is to bring people and cultures together by focusing on our commonalities vs. our differences.

• CEO Hack: Ability to see patterns of energy and paying attention to everyone's different needs
• CEO Nugget: Be in people's business, it's all about people
• CEO Defined: One with the courage to be in charge and lead

Website: http://www.evolutiondancetheatre.com/

IAMCEO Episode 1149 with Armineh Keshishian: https://iamceo.co/2021/10/05/iam1149-director-brings-people-and-cultures-together/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionDanceTheatre/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvolutionDT
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EvolutionDT

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:00 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:25 – Armineh Keshishian

The hacks for me, I can say I am fortunate. I think this is a God-given gift. Thank you. That I'm able to see energies. I literally see the patterns of energies and I know who can match with whom. And I was able to cast not only based on their skills, their artistic skills but based on their energies if they would match. And that's why it was a success.

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. Av Arminne Keshishian of Evolution Dance Theater. Arminne, it's great to have you on the show.

01:04 – Armineh Keshishian

Thank you so much, Chris.

01:06 – Gresham Harkless

Super excited to have you on and have you back on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Arminne so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Arminne is the president and artistic director of Evolution Dance Theater, which has created and produced a number of multidisciplinary dance theater productions.

Armanet has incorporated her creative skills with her financial knowledge and entrepreneurial discipline and has committed herself as the visionary behind these productions since 2006. She says I strive to create cultural fusion through art. I am inspired by concepts

01:35 – Gresham Harkless

of women empowerment, diversity, multiculturalism, and breaking down archetypal traditions. And my aim is to bring people and cultures together by focusing on our commonalities versus our differences. You can definitely check out more about all the awesome things she's doing on the other side of the house on episode 1150 of the I AM CEO podcast. Armitage, super excited to have you back on. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:57 – Armineh Keshishian

Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you. This is a pleasure.

02:00 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it's definitely the pleasure is all ours. And I know in talking with you before, we had such an action-packed and value-packed episode. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you got started with, you know, everything that you're doing now with the Evolution Dance Theater. So you can tell us a little bit more about how that got started.

02:16 – Armineh Keshishian

Sure. I always loved dancing. And many years ago, I started taking Middle Eastern dance, classes, belly dancing, and Middle Eastern folkloric dances. I took classes, I also took jazz and modern and I started performing. I was born Christian and I was raised in a Muslim country in the Middle East. So actually performance in public is a taboo. Not many people know this, but that's the Middle Eastern people know this.

And So everyone was asking, are you going to perform? And I'm saying, no. And I'm taking all these classes because I loved and love dancing. And eventually, I thought no culture or society could dictate what I can or cannot do. So I started performing and alongside I had my financial business. I was a financial consultant, a wealth manager by day, and a dancer at night and on weekends.

And it was fabulous. I wasn't doing it for money. I just loved the movement and the music. And eventually when I was very creative, started writing stories. And since I was writing stories to portray messages of culture and empowerment, that's how I established the Evolution Dance Theater in 2006. That's the story.

03:31 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, I definitely appreciate you for leaning into that. I think so many times, I think we talked a little bit about that, that artistry piece and so many times we feel like we have to choose to be one or the other, but I love how you were able to kind of, for lack of a better term, fuse both of those into all the awesome things you're doing. And I feel like, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds like they complement each other in some form, shape, or fashion.

03:50 – Armineh Keshishian

Yes, you're right. You're right, Gresh because the financial world is a very serious world. And dancing is a more creative, joyful world. Not that finances are not joyful. Everybody likes to have money. Everybody likes to be creative and they like to increase their net worth. However, I really think it was very complimentary, as you said, but very opposite of each other. And this way we can use all of our resources, our emotional resources, and physical resources in order to live a more fulfilled life.

04:22 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. It's funny that you said that because the word that was coming to my mind is holistic and being able to kind of not just say, okay, I'm this or I'm that, but the wholeness of who we are and the wholeness of how we make an impact in the world. And so I know I touched on it a little bit when I read your bio, and you did as well. Can you take us through a little bit more about Evolution Dance Theater and how you're making that impact for so many people?

04:42 – Armineh Keshishian

Evolution Dance Theater strives to cross boundaries of gender and generations and to bring the cultural gap together. So we started as a Middle Eastern company. We're still a Middle Eastern-based company and the stories are Middle Eastern-based. However, because we bring in different dance genres like jazz, modern, hip hop, and even Brazilian, then we are able to expand the stories.

And because it's more of human emotion how can I express this? It's more of a human nature rather than just the Middle Eastern nature. So that's why everybody can relate. And cultural fusion specifically, it's very important for me because I believe in having one human race. There are so many different attitudes, ideas, and even differences that people feel, oh, that's Middle East, that's here, that's there.

But to me, we are all citizens of this world and we've got to embrace each other our stories always reflect that and that is how we are different from any other company because normally companies represent modern dance, belly dance, jazz, or folkloric of let's say Arabic or Armenian or they're always the cultures stay together and the Evolution Dance Theater aims to bring the cultures together instead of just their own culture together. And that's why I'm very passionate about this.

06:14 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely love that. That's why I used the word fusion earlier because I think so many times, obviously you've been able to do that yourself. But I think being able to do that in the business and organization as well too is huge. Because I think as you talked about when I read your bio, focusing on the commonalities versus the differences.

I think when you start to really get into the human aspect of ourselves, whether we're talking about business or we're talking about life and we're talking about dance or we're talking about basketball or whatever it, you start to hear those stories and you start to realize that there is a fusion of like who we are, our experiences move. Well, not quite the same. There are a lot of commonalities that bring us closer together than our parts. So I love that you've been able to kind of have that as, for lack of a better term, a foundational element in everything you've been building.

06:54 – Armineh Keshishian

Yes, it's exciting, because there's a lot of separation happening right now. And even if you look at the Middle East, especially in North America, we're always thinking, oh, Middle East, there's always war, there's always politics. Yes, but that is, I am not interested in politics and the war or the religious aspects of that.

What I'm interested in as a human being is to show the Middle Eastern culture, which is based on a few thousand years of history, and how we can also embrace other cultures together and make something beautiful. After all, it's art. It's the world of arts, right? It's not we're not into politics. But I do like to bring social issues to the stage.

For example, one of our last shows was Follow Your Heart. And it was about a modern Middle Eastern woman, Almaza, who is in love with a traditional man, Jivan. Their love was a taboo. They could not be together. However, other cultures came and interfered, and eventually, they were together and there was a lot of growth happening. This was done through different genres of dances, a fusion of dances, and the story.

The idea is that our main dancer, Almasa's character, was not of Middle Eastern descent whatsoever. And she said that she experienced exactly the same issue. Her boyfriend at the time was from a Latino background, and his mother was totally opposed to them getting married and that's, and that was the reality. So if we go deep we can see that there are so many commonalities between all of our cultures and all of our religions and we are always fighting to be separate. No, we are one. That's what I'm here to share with the audience. Those are my views and I hope that we can expand on those.

08:43 – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something you feel makes you more effective and efficient?

08:53 – Armineh Keshishian

In evolution dance theater?

08:54 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, as an artist, especially.

08:55 – Armineh Keshishian

Artists normally are very sensitive to energy. And they're very sensitive overall because they're always using their bodies if they're dancers, if they're musicians, they hear every single beat. So they might be practicing an instrument at the moment, but they can hear all the conversation happening. So it's a very intense, let's say, and sensitive times when the artists are together. This is my experience.

And so to be able to actually have 50, 80, 90, 100 people to work together, the energy has to match. For example, again, I have to bring examples to make my point. So follow your heart. We have cast from all over the world. The people didn't know each other at all, but they felt like they were in a group because we put them in hotels and in different rooms and different houses, we rented different houses. And they couldn't get enough of each other. They loved each other so much.

They practiced together, then they had maybe dinner together afterward. And so to be able to enjoy the process, the experience, and yet perform. That was very good. And the hacks for me, I can say I am fortunate. I think this is a God-given gift, thank you. That I'm able to see energies. I literally see the patterns of energies and I know who can match with whom.

And I was able to cast not only based on their skills, their artistic skills but based on their energies if they would match. And that's why it was a success. Back-to-back rehearsals are actually in 2 different rehearsal studios. So for 6 weeks, we had 2 rehearsal studios happening at the same time and the hack is that know who you're hiring, know who you are working with. Some people are more sensitive than others.

Some people need more, let's say, guidance than others. Some people need more of something, whatever that may be. Pay attention to their needs and think of it as a family that has come together. It would be much more smoother. And everybody wanted to be there. Everybody worked for the overall show, not just so I could stand out or he could stand out or she could stand out. Everybody wanted the show to be a success. And hopefully, we're going to work together again as that cast. But it was wonderful. It was great.

11:27 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it definitely sounds like it was incredibly impactful in so many different ways. But I love that hack and being able to kind of understand like how to drill down and like you talked about energy and correct me if I'm wrong, energy is kind of everything. If we don't pay attention to it then we're not paying attention to everything and being able to kind of fit you know those people or those experiences even you know those energies together it's so necessary to pay attention to that. And I just gloss over that. So I love that you've been able to do that and have that kind of, that gift to be able to do that and how it has manifested itself into your most recent kind of event.

11:59 – Armineh Keshishian

Yeah, Because emotions are running really high. It was a lot of stress actually for me as the executive producer and the artistic director, but I had a rehearsal director, and I had an associate director. So I had a team of people and I wasn't the only one in charge. I had a team of people who were in charge and they could go to them if there was an issue or if there was a last-minute change.

And sometimes we had to make last-minute changes. And it's really the same thing to have a team that you can rely on. It doesn't matter if it's a dance theater production or if it's a multi-billion dollar business or even a small mom-and-pop shop. It's about people. We always relate to people. If they say, what business are you in? We can always say we're in people's business because it doesn't matter what we're offering, what product, what service, we're in people's business. If we can't get along with people or people don't trust us, there is no business, right?

12:58 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. And I say so many times we forget about that, I say human aspect, the people aspect, you know, a business and what it is that we do. And I think so many times we're getting caught in the, the kind of, I guess, functionality or the modality, maybe even a better word of like what it is that we do. Oh, I do websites or I do, I'm a podcaster or I'm, you know, this, that, and a third, but we forget about that human aspect.

And I think not only are we robbing ourselves and that opportunity to kind of create relationships and to interact, but we're also robbing like the impact that we could truly have with our clients, with the people we serve, with the audience, just so many different aspects to forget this. I don't know if you would consider that to be like a nugget or something we could kind of take away but it sounds like that's very impactful.

13:34 – Armineh Keshishian

Yes, absolutely, yes.

13:36 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome Awesome. Well, Armin, now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're open to our different quote-unquote CEOs on this show so especially from an artistry standpoint like what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:49 – Armineh Keshishian

To me, a CEO is one who leads, and who has the courage to charge ahead and take leadership. Again, I think I may have mentioned this before. It's to be in charge, not to be in control, because control, there's different connotations to that.

14:04 – Gresham Harkless

Truly appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic so to speak just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course how best they can get a hold of you about about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

14:18 – Armineh Keshishian

Thank you. My message is follow your heart. I also named the show Follow Your Heart. I think I may have shared this with you last time. Follow your heart because It's based on my concept of 3D, which is desire, determination, and dedication. When you want something, anything, if you have a desire of 100%, then you want to do it. You're coming from a place of choice. Then you decide to do it. You're going to do it.

Not today, not someday, not next year. Whenever you decide. So you decided you're going to do it. And the last part of that is dedication, which is your commitment. Challenges happen. There are no 2 ways about it and you're dedicated to doing it. And so my message is to know your 3Ds and follow your heart. And if you'd like to know more about us, you can check our website, evolutiondancetheatre.com, evolutiondancetheatre.com.

My name is Arminne, you can also email us. And hopefully, we can take our show to Vegas. Some people have, some producers have seen our show and they pitched it to Vegas. So we're hoping, follow your heart should be there very soon. Check us out, let us know. If you'd like to participate as producers, as cast members, or as an audience, let us know how you feel and let us know how you relate to our messages.

15:49 – Gresham Harkless

I absolutely love that and I appreciate that we will of course have the links and information in the show notes as well I love how you know you talked about that human aspect, the people aspect, the story aspect as well too, and how those stories kind of take light on the stage and everything that you do. I think so many times we forget about that.

And also too, the fusion of obviously the worlds that we have, but also the aspects of our lives as well. Cause I think so many times we can play things or believe things should be in silos, but understanding the fusion, the interconnectedness of everything that we're doing and the people that we are is so huge. So I appreciate you so much for obviously preaching that, for telling us about that today too, and living and breathing that as well. So Armin, I truly appreciate you again and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:30 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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