Radio Arevik Continues its Series Showcasing the “Smart Boards for WorldView Schools 2024” Competition: A Deep Dive into the Rich Layers of the Armenian Dance, Kochari

Recently, Radio Arevik’s Zartucich program featured a special episode highlighting the “Smart Boards for WorldView Schools 2024” competition. The guests included Arpenik Ghazaryan, a history teacher from Yerevan’s Grigor Bagyan School No. 141 and one of the program’s winners, along with her students Gor, Anna, and Larisa.

The timing and focus of the interview were intentional. For the first time, Armenia celebrated October 17 as the “International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage.” Several elements of Armenian intangible cultural heritage are inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, including the traditional Armenian group dance Kochari, which was added in 2017 under the title “Kochari: Traditional Group Dance.”

The featured school team won a smart board for their school with a project dedicated to Kochari. Their project, titled “My WorldView: Mapping the Armenian National Dance Kochari,” explored the different forms of Kochari, connecting them to specific regions and studying these areas using the WorldView educational platform.

“The choice of this topic was deliberate. In today’s world, the role of national culture and the importance of preserving and promoting it are vital. That’s why we chose this topic—to highlight the significance of national dances in our lives. By focusing on Kochari, we aimed to showcase the diversity of our national culture and how our ancestors performed the same dance differently across various regions,” explained Arpenik Ghazaryan, the team leader.

The students shared their experiences and what they gained from the project. Larisa mentioned that one of her biggest achievements was registering on the WorldView platform and becoming familiar with its rich resources. Gor emphasized the value of learning how to work in a team and achieve goals through collaboration. Anna appreciated their contribution to collecting and sharing information about the Kochari dance with their peers.

As part of the project, the students created a YouTube channel, uploading educational videos that included interviews on the significance of national dances and specific content about the Sgherd, Garno, and Msho Kochari dances. Additionally, they designed a logo for the YouTube channel and created informational brochures on the different types of Kochari and their respective regions. These brochures included QR codes linking to educational videos and games for each type of Kochari. Each group developed a game related to the specific Kochari they studied. One of the students even created an animated film dedicated to Garno Kochari. Another video was produced in Armenian, Russian, and English, providing information about the Kochari dance.

This interview is part of an ongoing series. Ten of the 100 winning schools will be invited to the radio station to present their projects and showcase the valuable products they created.

To listen to the full interview, follow this link.