Torkom Movsesiyan is a Cultural Ambassador of the arts, who envisions the preservation of Middle Eastern dance as a diplomatic tool in cultural awareness.

 

His annual award-winning Raqs Without Borders (a Middle Eastern Dance Festival in NYC), www.torkomada.weebly.com, is an original contribution to the world of art and diplomacy, awarded by NYS Council on the Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs of NYC, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Brooklyn Arts Council, and the CUNY Dance Initiative.   

 

His festival fosters mutual understanding between the West and the Middle East.  The New York Foundation for the Arts named him "a Renaissance artist with extraordinary abilities," engaging in the different disciplines of art as a dance instructor, choreographer, folklorist, actor, scholar, polyglot, singer, and a college professor.

 

Torkom's distinguished art has been featured in the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, HBO, Everyday with Rachel Ray, the Discovery Channel, Law and Order, Guiding Light, Lincoln Center, the Daily News, the United Nations, and TimeOut NY.

 

His scholarly articles &  essays on dance have appeared in Zaghareet, ChynaGirl Magazine, and Cambridge Scholars Publishing.  Torkom has lectured at UNESCO, the University of Minnesota, Kean University, and CUNY.

 

Torkom has studied Egyptian dance extensively with Morocco, Tarik Sultan, Raqia Hassan, Tito, Ahmed Hussien, and Amel Tafsout.  He holds an MA in International Affairs and an honors BA in International Studies from CUNY.