Nevarte Hamparian

In 1942, Hamparian was a young dancer in a production of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera. She joined the USO in 1946, and toured the United States with Russian dancers, performing at military hospitals and bases.^[1]

Hamparian founded and directed the Nayiri Dance Group of New York in 1963, which specialized in Armenian folk dances, but also performed original works by Hamparian.^[2][3] Her children were members of the group, as was her sister-in-law, Alice Aghavni Kasbarian.^[4] The group performed at the World's Fair in New York in 1964^[5][6] and 1965; later they also performed at Carnegie Hall, the Democratic National Convention, and the American Bicentennial festival at Rockefeller Center. She was a member of the Armenian Folk Dance Society of New York.^[1]

In 2010 she was honored with a festive luncheon at St. Illuminator's Armenian Cathedral in New York.^[7]

Nevarte Manuelian married artist and educator Nishan Hamparian. They had three children, Aram, Anahid and Vartan. She died in 2019, aged 92 years.^[1] Her grave is at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Aram Suren Hamparian was her nephew.