Absolutely first-rate ... with the elegance and classiness of the Mideast's 

now legendary Badia, queen of the music halls... (Walter Terry, Saturday Review)

Anahid Sofian studied ballet with Mary Clare Sale, formerly of the NYC Ballet, and modern dance with Bella Lewitsky and Erich Hawkins.  She performed with the Richard Oliver Modern Dance Company in Los Angeles, and in New York participated in Tina Croll and James Cunningham’s "The Horses Mouth Greets the New Millennium" at the Danspace Project of St. Mark’s Church. Other studies also included tap, acrobatics, jazz and Afro-Cuban.

In the Sixties, Ms. Sofian’s interests turned to dances of the Middle East and she is internationally recognized as one of the most versatile and innovative artists in the field.  Self-trained by observing and working with the Middle Eastern dancers, musicians and communities in New York and abroad, Ms. Sofian was one of the pioneers in taking Oriental Dance out of the nightclub and onto the concert stage.  She has performed both as soloist and with her company in such mainstream venues as The Museum of Modern Art Sculpture Garden, the United Nations, the Uris Theatre on Broadway and Carnegie Hall, and was the first oriental dancer to be accepted into the New York Dance Festival at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.  She has also been hired to curate numerous presentations including the Middle Eastern Festivals held at Town Hall in New York and at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Ms. Sofian has been the recipient of choreography grants from NYSCA and the NY State CAPS program and a residency at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she participated in a Choreography Laboratory directed by the legendary dance master Bessie Schonberg.  Working with members of the DTH Workshop Ensemble, Ms. Sofian created two dances fusing ballet and oriental dance.  Both were included at a DTH Open House performance at Aaron Davis Hall, CUNY. This past summer, she was a choreographer for William Peter Blatty's stage adaptation of his film, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!, which was presented at NYU's Skirball Center as part of the NY International Fringe Festival.

The CAPS grant enabled special study of Armenian dance with Joyce Tamesian-Shenloogian, Director of the Antranig Armenian Dance Ensemble.  Of Armenian descent, Ms. Sofian grew up learning Armenian dances and listening to Middle Eastern music.  Her lecture-demonstration, “Solo Dance of Armenian Women: A Comparative Study,” has been featured at the Museum of Natural History and the Anthropology Museum of the People of New York at Queens College.  She also created two Armenian-themed dances for her Company and is planning a major Armenian project for next year.

Ms. Sofian established her studio in New York in 1972, where she offers instruction on regional styles, choreography, structured improvisation, costume making, and music and rhythms for the dance.  Her classes are structured after classical dance and include a thorough warm-up designed for the needs of Middle Eastern dancers.  The curriculum includes levels from Basic Beginner to Professional, special topics workshops, and an annual week-long intensive geared to professional dancers and teachers.  Ms. Sofian also teaches master classes and workshops for the Middle Eastern Dance community throughout the U.S. and Brazil.  At the college level, she has taught at Sara Lawrence, Hunter College, NYU, and for the World Dance Program at The New School University in New York .