Show & Tell: Dancer Ilir Avdyli

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Q: How long have you been dancing?

A: I kind of fell into it when I was maybe 13. I studied music from my very early childhood, and then I think I had attention deficit disorder (laughs). I had way too much energy. One of my father’s friends who worked for the national folkloric company of (Albania), he suggested, “Why don’t you use it for something, all this energy he’s got?”

Q: Where did you study?

A: It was kind of a little dance studio that was nearby. But you have to understand that in Albania, dance studios were not just there, they were there to build new individuals (to) support the system of socialist living. There was not such a thing as lyrical dance. It was all folkloric dance.

Q: What was it like to be an artist in Albania back then?

A: One of the things that helped me at the time was the country was going through a major political change from so-called socialism to so-called democracy … and when that changed, so did the social environment in arts and education.

Q: You even got to travel outside of Albania?

A: Yes, but not many could. We were traveling only because we were portraying the culture of our country. … My first trip was when I was 13 to (a festival in) Turkey. Albania starts with an “A” and America starts with an “A,” so the next country beside us was the Americans (laughs).

Q: When did you start to think about leaving Albania?

A: Actually, it was in one of these other festivals. It was this one organizer … who said, “I don’t know what you’re doing in Albania. You should leave. Why don’t you go to America?” It was random, but it kind of stayed with me. And right before I left, I was putting together a show with some of my friends, and one of my idols who I respect … he said, “I don’t even know what you’re still doing in Albania. I’m impressed with everything you do. There’s nothing else for you to do here.”

Q: So, when you were 19, you just left?

A: I came here with a ballet company. Once I came here (after performing in Nashville, Tenn.), I defected.

Q: It sounds like you’ve adjusted to life in America.

A: And I’m a citizen now! Five years ago. I had the opportunity to vote. It was an amazing accomplishment. I had to do the swearing-in, so that was big enough already, but then to go and vote, after so many years of not being accepted … is kind of a highlight that you’re official.