Dancing gives senior Nelly Nazarian an opportunity to leave her worries behind and enter into a trouble-free world.

“I feel like when I go to practice, mostly when I’m stressed, I could just forget it all and dance,” Nazarian said. “I get all my emotions out when I dance.”

When Nazarian dances, she experiences a freedom that distracts her from the stress brought by school.

Nazarian began dancing when she was six years old after her mom enrolled her at Vanoush Khanamerian Dance School. Nazarian soon fell in love with traditional Armenian dancing.

It is more than this freedom that compels Nazarian to continue dancing, dancing allows Nazarian to get closer to her Armenian roots.

“Dancing is a really big part of Armenian culture and because of dance I’ve grown closer to my family,” Nazarian said.

Through Nazarian’s 11 years as a dancer, she has learned many different types of dances. Her favorite dance is one that represents a traditional Armenian wedding. Nazarian and her friends dance as a group to convey the beauty of an Armenian wedding.

“I have fun with all the girls there,” Nazarian said. “We don’t do solos, everything we do is as a group so we have all grown close.”

Because dancing means more to Nazarian than just an after school pastime, she does not want to quit after high school. Although Nazarian is uncertain to how she can incorporate dancing into her life after she finishes school, she is confident that she will never lose her love for dance.

“I don’t want to quit because of college,” Nazarian said. “I want to dance for I don’t know how long after.”

When asked what advice Nazarian has for aspiring dancers, Nazarian encourages dancers to always be outgoing and confident.

“Don’t ever be shy,” Nazarian said. “Everyone is doing the same thing as you and everyone messes up.”