I leave for Armenia May 22. The purpose of the trip is to set up activities for a Japanese tour group I'm organizing in July. The tour will focus on the major Armenian sites plus Armenian song and dance. My Japanese students are very familiar with Armenian song and dance because I've been going to Japan on teaching tours since 1978. The trip will also involve my work with the Karin Dance Group and Gagik Ginosyan. The dates for the Japanese tour group are July 6-13, 2017. We'll be staying at the Hyatt Hotel next to Republic Square. A lot of the Armenian activities will be spontaneous. There are a lot of restaurant with live music plus excursions will always find villagers playing music. Yerevan has many outdoor theaters and the announcements of their schedules are sometimes last minute. This tour of Japanese will definitely expand and will not be exclusively for Japanese. 

On November 21 I leave for Japan for my 20th teaching tour starting in Tokyo on November 23 with a 6 hour all Bozigian program of Armenian song and dance. I'm always amazed at the level of the Japanese folk dancer. These almost 40 years have not diminished their dance level. I'll teach in Tokyo, Osaka, Himeji, and Kyoto so far. Fusae arranges my teaching tours of Japan and she is also the tour manager for our trip to Armenia. 

Thanks and more later.