Mary Nassibian (née Kouvari), the niece of French Actor and Performer George Guetary, and in her own right a famed and beloved dance instructor and choreographer in the Greek and Egyptian communities of Australia and Greece, has been laid to rest.
Mary passed away at her home on 18 November 2022. Her wishes for a private burial were respected by her surviving children; a celebration of her life and achievements will be held in November 2023.
“Mary was well known throughout the Greek and Egyptian communities of Australia and abroad as an innovative, modern and folkloric dance instructor, choreographer and director,” Mary’s daughter Tania Nassibian said about her mother, a trailblazer who inspired people beyond dance as she was involved in many charities and television.
Mary’s final performance was at the end of October 2022, where she choreographed an Egyptian themed dance performance at a benefit event at Le Montage in Leichhardt, Sydney.
Mary was one of the founding members of the host charity, which reached its goal of raising $1m for blood cancer research for a Sydney Hospital; in light of her devotion to her craft Mary was awarded a Premiers Multicultural Community Medal in Arts and Culture in 2020.
“My mother was not only my best friend, but she was an amazing artist and was so loved by so many people. Her loss is a tragedy for the community,” her daughter Tania continued.
“Though Mary will be missed by many people, her vibrant smile and generous energy will always live on in our hearts, and her legacy remains,” she concluded.
ABOUT MARY
Mary Etienne Nassibian was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1941, to Greek parents. Her childhood was spent between the cities of Cairo and Alexandria. She matriculated from Ahilopoulio, Cairo in 1958.
Mary’s passion for dance started long before she could walk. At the age of 8, she started dancing classes in Cairo.
At age 14, she travelled to France to meet her mother’s elder brother, her famous uncle, George Guetary (né Lambros Vorloglou) (Lead actor in the film “An American In Paris”) for the first time. He immediately offered to take her under his wing, though being raised in a relatively conservative household, her mother denied his proposition.
After studying dance for 10 years in Egypt, Mary was to go to England to study choreography in 1959. However, as the Egyptians were on friendly terms with the Russians at the time, and as ballet and folkloric dance was to be promoted, she postponed her trip to England.
Her dance career started in Egypt when, at the age of 17, she was selected as the Principal Dancer of the Egyptian National Folkloric Ballet. Her career continued to blossom in Australia where she founded the Mary Nassibian Folkloric Dance Society which included a touring dance company and 10 dance schools.
At the age of 17, and concerned about her mother’s opinion, Mary secretly auditioned for the National Dance Group, Founoun L El Shaabeyia, who were then being instructed by Russian ballet masters.
She was selected from over 2500 candidates, where she was a Principal Dancer of the Egyptian National Folkloric Ballet, Cairo, Egypt in 1959. The Performing Arts Advanced Diploma was a 5 year contract involving full time training, performing, and teaching.
In the 1960’s, though political times were very challenging for the Europeans in Egypt, Mary was allowed to stay in the country and continue working with the Egyptian Folkloric Ballet. As she did not want to be separated from her family who had left the country, she decided to break her contract in 1964 and follow them to Athens, Greece.
A NEW BEGINNING IN AUSTRALIA
In 1963, Mary married Ashod Nassibian, a family business printer at Nassibian Studios in Cairo. They migrated to Australia in 1964. Their focus was starting a new life together in a foreign country and a few years later they had their first child, a son.
In 1972, Mary was approached by Mrs Margret Walker (founder of the Melbourne Ballet Club and the Borovansky Ballet Company in 1941). She was eager for Mary to pursue a career in folkloric dancing and endeavoured to obtain a grant from the Australian Council of Arts. Though she was a busy young mother, Mary was able to continue her life’s passion in dance and worked as a dance instructor at St Mary’s, Sydney.
As Folkloric dancing is not restricted to any particular nationality, Mary continued to obtain work from Mrs Walker, who established a centre for Folkloric dancing, the Margaret Walker Folk Dance Centre, obtaining numerous grants from the Australian Council of Arts.
The first time that Mary raised funds for a charity was in 1973. She raised the equivalent of $55,000 in today’s dollars, for the Deaf and Blind Society, and won an award for the highest funds raised by an individual.
In 1974, Mary returned to Greece for intense Folkloric dance training with renowned Greek dance master, Mr Karabetsos. From 1974, Mary taught dance to many children and adults from various ethnic groups, including the Greeks from Egypt Association, and Greek community associations in Parramatta, Stanmore, Burwood, Manly, and Marrickville to name a few.
At the end of each year, she held a concert at various theatres (the Seymour Centre, the Footbridge Theatre Sydney), and awarded students with medals for their accomplishments.
Alongside teaching dance in Sydney, Australia, Mary continued to raise money for other charities like the Heart Foundation and the Red Cross. During this time, Mary became known amongst the Greek and Egyptian communities within Australia, who were supporting her philanthropic quests.
THE MARY NASSIBIAN FOLKLORIC DANCE SOCIETY
In 1978, the Mary Nassibian Folkloric Dance Society was created, receiving a number of grants from the Premiers Department and other Government bodies.
Over the years, Mary’s students participated in many festivals such as Paradise Gardens Greek Day, Folkloric Festival Sydney and the Sydney Festival as well as events for Stanmore Greek Community and the Australian Islamic Cultural Society.
Mary was often hosting dinner dances, and presenting shows, while supporting the Greek and Egyptian communities, and educating Australians about different cultures and their art.
Mary’s professional dance group toured Australia often for various Greek and Egyptian events, festivals, conferences and private productions.
The Shell National Folkloric Festival at the Opera House was one of the many highlights for Mary’s performances and choreographies. Working closely with Guillermo Keys-Arenas (the major artistic producer-director of the annual event), the Mary Nassibian Dancers represented the Greek and Egyptian ethnic groups, for several years.
From 1979 to 1984, Mary’s interest in dance and choreography was broadening, and her work appeared on Australian National Television. She joined forces with Mr Harry Michaels (Host, Producer), performing, choreographing and developing contemporary Greek dance and Folkloric numbers for his programs; The Greek Affair, and The Greek Variety Show.
While working for several years as a choreographer and performer in studios at Channel 10 and 7, and in Newcastle, Mary expanded her talent into acting, where she did a number of voice overs in Greek, for several advertisements for Joyce Mayne and Joe Hasham of Electronic Sales and Services, among others.
Her work included acting roles for television films and commercials, and her face was on billboards throughout Australia for Sunwhite Calrose Rice.
During this time, Mary’s directing skills lead to her collaboration with Mr Geoff Millichamp, as co-ordinator of his shows and productions.
In 1981, Mary became a presenter for Channel 0-28 (SBS), for a number of years, with a main focus on Greek shows, both in English and Greek. Highlight moments were interviews with Telly Savalas (American actor & singer), and a meet & greet with the then Prince, now King Charles III.
In 1982-1983, Mary prepared various productions for the Egyptian Show at the Hordern Pavillion.
Mary and her dance group appeared at the International Dance Festival, from their first year in 1982, until 1984.
Despite a car accident later that year causing her major injuries, Mary continued to work as much as she could, while being a single mother of 3. She kept her dance schools running, and continued to be involved with various organisations, including the Greek Young Matrons Association, in later years.
The Mary Nassibian Dance schools ended in 1989, with their last successful concert. Mary moved to Greece in the early 90’s, where she continued her creative career.
Mary was invited to teach workshops and seminars at her sister’s ballet school in Athens, Greece, Kouvari Dance School during the 90’s and early 2000’s.
In collaboration with Mary’s daughter Tania, they co-created very unique choreographies combining both modern and traditional dance that were performed by Mary’s students at the amphitheatre, Veakion Theatre, Piraeus, for several consecutive years, with further performances in Australia.
Between Europe and Australia, Mary continued to instill her knowledge and dance creations to a new generation of dancers, including at the Nassibian Dancers which is still in operation to this day.
Ms Christina Efthymiades, a long time outstanding student of Mary’s, now runs the school in Burwood.
THE ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES 2004
In 2004, Mary was a production assistant at the Opening and Closing ceremonies for the Olympic Games – Athens, Greece.
In 2007, returning back to live in Sydney, Australia, Mary’s career as a performing artist, dance teacher, choreographer, actor, and fundraising machine had by that time spanned decades.
Mary’s endless life passion to help and inspire others, led her to become one of the founding members of The Bloody Great Committee, in 2012. She was instrumental in the creation of the foundation, and actively gathered the community each year to the event starting in 2013, which laid the groundwork for the amazing accomplishments in the years that followed.
In 2022, the foundation reached their goal of raising $1m for blood cancer research for Sydney Hospital. Mary’s last creation, an Egyptian dance choreography was a triumph at the event in October 2022. She died in Sydney on November 18, 2022.
” I feel that every human being has a God-Given gift,
a talent that they can choose to develop.
I have always known that my purpose in life has strongly been related to Dance –
To Teach, To Choreograph,
and this way to bring a smile to people’s faces.
What a pleasure it is indeed,
to find students with that same spark,
the same motivating love of Dance.
Through teaching, I fulfil my purpose,” – Tania Nassibian
