Meet Artur Lago-V. | Actor/Director Dancer/Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Artur Lago-V. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Artur, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I did not choose my creative career. I had no choice but to be creative. From an undocumented construction worker from Armenia to Russia to a film actor/director, dancer/choreographer in America- the stories of my grandparents surviving Armenian genocide and Stalin’s repressions of the Jews in my childhood and youth and surviving the collapse of Soviet Union and the civil wars that followed it, forever influenced my prospective about storytelling and performing arts. I started my dance training at age of twelve. Since at the time a lot of my friends in our small town were getting into local gangs or doing drugs, my mother decided to enroll me into a small Ballroom Dance studio to keep me away from trouble and to introduce me to a bigger world of performing arts. Dance helped me to develop self-discipline, enjoy healthy self-expression, and to avoid trouble on the streets. I now could feel a deeper sense of the gift of life. At age of twenty-two, I won a green card lottery and had an opportunity to come to the United States. While picking up multiple part time jobs and educational scholarships, I received my AA in Dance and Liberal Arts from Santa Monica College and my BFA in Dance and Theater from CSULB where I met Gregory R.R. Crosby my close friend and film mentor. Under his patient guidance, I developed a strong interest in film-making. We’ve been creating our projects since. I continue building relationships with creative people from all over the country who come from various artistic, professional, and social backgrounds. I utilize my life and creative experiences and skills on many film-sets as a producer, writer, performer, coach, and choreographer. One of my most rewarding experiences have been sharing my knowledge as a mentor, creative movement and dance coach and choreographer with Inner City Shakespeare Ensemble to make sure I give back to our young generation what I have been so generously given from all my creative and professional collaborators, mentors, and teachers.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Growing up, I always enjoyed watching movies, playing sports, and entertaining my friends and classmates. Well, I thought I was entertaining them but my teachers thought differently. I was a hyperactive child, whatever that means, and was getting into a lot of fights. That’s when my mother decided to put me into a dance class. Since then, I discovered my passion for dance and anything movement related including martial arts. When I won my green card lottery at age of twenty one and came to California, I got three part time jobs to stay alive. However, I realized that in order for me to experience life and share my journey with the world, I needed to acquire certain skill set. I quit two of my three jobs and went to Evans Adult School in Downtown L.A. where I would spend a year in the Intensive English Course which allowed me to eventually get into Santa Monica College and then transfer to California State University of Long Beach to pursue my BFA in Dance Major and Theater Minor. During those years, I discovered that my childhood provided me with the most essential skills that helped me to navigate through my American life. My ability to save money, to be curious about people around me, to always try to learn something new or get better at what I already knew how to do, and above all respect and appreciate people for who they are. That’s why, even today during the toughest days for our industry in California, I still have a strong network of people who are helping me to keep pushing forward with my feature film Fortune Zombies: Vol. Christmas and invite me to collaborate with them on their projects.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, I would diffidently take them to the Mt. Baldy for a little hike and tell them about the fact that my favorite poet/singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen spent a good chunk of his life in the Buddhist monastery that used to be there. Then I would bore them to death with my poetry or even dare to read them some of Cohen’s poetry. Then I will take them to a fun social dance party at the Harmony Dance Studio and probably take them for dinner at some Vietnamese joint to try Pho. I mean, they are more then welcome to explore whatever they want, but I can’t imagine someone saying no to my wonderful plan.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In my profession, it is simply impossible to survive even a day without someone’s help, mentorship, inspiration, friendship, and collaboration. The list would be way too long for me to name every single person. Feel free to look at the credits of all the projects I was in because every single person involved in them helped me to live my dream and share my skills and talents with the world. However, I do have specific people who are always there for me when I’m getting hammered by life or need help with my next project and who always remember to check on me personally as well. So I’d like to send my special thanks to my mother, my sister, and my American Family : James Rulon Beus, Iris Svis, and Gregory R.R. Crosby.

Website: https://artur86v.wixsite.com/artist/about

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artur_lago_v?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/artur-lago-varjapetian-11256875

Image Credits
The pictures with zombies were taken by Svitlana Soroka on the set of the action/comedy/horror that our production company has been developing titled Fortune Zombies: Vol. Christmas The pictures on set with the prop AK 47 and dragging the cart were taken by Romsha Golos. The other pictures were taken by a cinematographer Andreas Burgess on the set of our romantic drama TASMANIA written and directed by Austin Alward. A ballroom dance competition picture with my student was taken by a kind stranger who also attended the competition. And the wrap picture by the plane with our cast and crew was taken by me.