MadonnaTribe had the chance to meet Mihran Kirakosyan, the amazing dancer that you've seen on stage with Madonna in the re-Invention tour, the Live8 gig, the "Hung Up" video and the promotional tour for "Confessions On A Dance Floor".
Talking to Mihran we've learnt how this incredibly talented guy has managed to make the impossible happen by working harder and challenging himself every day.

MTribe: Let's talk about your theatre workshop at Marshall High. It seems something that was somehow tailored for you, with all the different disciplines that had to do with stage and performances involved, that is probably also the kind of environment you were surrounded by in your early years.

Mihran: The workshop was astonishing. It was my most favorite discipline, since I was not a big fan of homework, class work and reading. I befriended many kids like me and had a blast liberating my creative side. My teachers, Kevin Kane and Jackie Lopez, were very creative and inspiring. I looked up to them like mentors. When I look back, they had a lot to do with the person I have become.

MTribe: Was your decision to join a dance agency a sort of turning point in your career?

Mihran: Yes, definitely. The agency helped me find work and introduced me to the industry. It was then, that I started doing what I had dreamed of.

MTribe: What were you looking for at the time, and how does reality compare with your dreams?

Mihran: I was looking for so little at the time, but in reality I got so much more. I always think big and that is how I aspire to retain my positive attitude. Nevertheless, I never thought I would get this far and this fast.

MTribe: And another major step ahead was probably the re-Invention tour with Madonna in 2004.
Do you remember how did it all start?

Mihran: At that time I had just finished the Britney Spears promotional tour and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would jump on the re-Invention tour.
It was one of the most challenging points in my life because for one, I started off just doing hip-hop. I don’t know how I transformed into a dancer for the most famous princess and most importantly the pop "Queen". Now you can see a hip-hop dancer with makeup doing Vogue (lol).
However, I am sure for those who have seen any of Madonna’s shows know that she incorporates every kind of dance style.

MTribe: We saw some bits of the dancer's auditions in the "I'm Going To Tell You A Secret" documentary but there's more to tell about it for sure. How did you get involved in the auditions?

Mihran: It was one of the craziest auditions I had been to. There were over a thousand dancers auditioning and therefore took about a week. One of my dearest friends, Tiffany, told me about the audition. To be honest, I went thinking I would not get the role, because I thought I won’t be able to fit in. It was a totally different style than I was used to.

MTribe: Do you have any special memories of the auditions? Was that the first time you got to meet Madonna and Jamie King?

Mihran: I do have many special memories of the audition. I remember being confused because I thought for someone to get to be in the tour, they needed proper training in some type of Jazz or ballet. The whole time I thought that it was a matter of time before I would get cut. As for meeting Jamie King, I met him working with Britney Spears on her last promotional tour. Jamie King was kind enough to introduce me to Madonna on the set of Britney’s music video, "Me Against the Music."

MTribe: Was Madonna among your favorite artists before having the chance to know her and work with her?

Mihran: I never grew up listening to Madonna, but I always had her CD’s and video’s at my house, because my family is big fan of Madonna. After working with her I am one of her biggest fans. I dare someone to say S#$@ about her! lol

MTribe: What about her music?
Have you been listening to her albums when you were a child?
Do you have any favorite song of hers?

Mihran: I am 20 years old and her committed fans have been with her for 20 years.
I did listen to her songs and mostly the ones where I can dance to.
Some of my favorite songs are"Like a Prayer" and "Music."

MTribe: Let's talk about the process of building up a show with Madonna.

You worked with her on the re-Invention tour, on the Live 8 performance, on the promotional tour for "Confessions On A Dance Floor" and on her "Hung Up" video.

That means a lot of work and creative process in a bunch of months, which experience was more difficult, which was a bigger challenge?

Mihran: I guess the tour was the biggest challenge. Madonna is the hardest working artist that I have met. We rehearsed for 2 months Monday- Saturday form morning to night. She rehearsed as much as we did, even more.
With Madonna, she loves to create something new every time and so she creates that challenge for herself and others to make each and every show bigger, better and unique.

MTribe: How was life on the road during the re-Invention tour?

Mihran: It was great. Everyone tried so hard to make everything comfortable and fun for us. Some of the dancers and I had been on tour with other artists before, but dancing for Madonna is quite different. We traveled by plane instead of a bus and we had plenty of time to go site seeing.

MTribe: Can you describe a typical working day, and a day off?

Mihran: On a day off the dancers would go off either site seeing or shopping.
Our hotels were usually in very populated and popular places, which made it easier to have fun and see what the place has to offer.
On a working day, we would wake up, eat and go to the venue for rehearsal.
Like I said, Madonna is very hard working and we would rehearse before each and every show. We would then eat again, and start getting ready. While we were getting ready we would hear her crazy fans yell "Madonna" throughout the venue. After the show, we would either go and crash or would get together and go out.

MTribe: There were a lot of people touring with Madonna, the other dancers, the band, her backup singers, the crew and so on. Madonna tours are known for creating a strong sense of team and "Family" between all those who are involved. Did that happen to you as well?

Mihran: The "Family" sense was incredible. I have never seen so many of the coolest people working together, but that all had to do with Madonna as well. She was very cool and down to earth with everyone. She made everyone feel comfortable.
I hated the feeling I had when the tour came to an end. Many of the dancers were in tears. Most of us still keep in touch and have become such good friends.

MTribe: Do you remember some nice and funny moments during the tour? And there was maybe a show that was particularly difficult to deliver?

Mihran: The most difficult and memorable show was the one at the Slane Castle in Ireland.
There were 80,000 fans in the freezing weather. It became even more difficult when it started to rain on stage. However, the rush of the danger involved and the 80,000 fans made it worthwhile and possibly the most incredible show we had done.

MTribe: Do you have a favorite number in the Re-Invention tour show?

Mihran: I would have to say "Music," because it is one of the numbers I felt the most comfortable in. It was more of my style and allowed me to add my creative side by free styling.

MTribe: And which was the hardest one to rehearse and perform?

Mihran: Probably, "Express Yourself and Vogue".

In "Express Yourself" we had to learn how to do routines with rifles which took a good period of time in rehearsal.

In "Vogue" - I have never Vogued in my life, lol. I didn’t even know what Vogue was. At first I was having a hard time learning the unique body posture the number required.
I was not confident in the number until my friend Zack told me, "If you look gay, then you are doing it right." You be the judge!

MTribe: Did you work on any song or number that was not included in the final set list?

Mihran: Yes, but that is a creative decision that Madonna made. In a way, I would rather not say.

MTribe: Were you familiar with the other tours Madonna did in her career, before the re-Invention? Can you compare those to the one you worked on?

Mihran: Yes, I have seen some of her other performances and parts of her tours, and no I can not compare. Again she re-invents herself at each of her shows so that no one knows what to expect. All you can really expect is to have a good time, other than that she will never be predictable.

MTribe: The Madonna fans were happy to see you and Cloud back on the stage with Madonna for the Live 8 show in London last summer. How things went this time, how were you contacted for the show?

Mihran: Well, she let us know about the show in short notice and we flew to London in just enough time to rock the stage with Madonna

MTribe: Did you have a feeling of why she chooses you two guys to join her on that very special show?

Mihran: Well, first of all, we were honored to stand next to her while she made history yet again on a very memorable show. Madonna knows exactly what she is looking for in each show and I guess she thought we would portray what she was looking for.

MTribe: What is your fondest memory of the Live 8 concert?

Mihran: The Madonna performance was definitely one of the highlights of the show and had some very emotional moments. Just the whole show I guess, cause there were sooo many fans and the energy was amazing.

MTribe: Let's talk about the "Hung Up" video, that I guess was your first time on the set of a Madonna video. How was that experience like? How was working with director Johan Renck like?

Mihran: I also did "Me Against The Music" with Madonna, but this was my first video for her. It was cool, and we had fun.
It was the first time Cloud and I met the new dancers of the promo tour. Once again we got to incorporate a lot of our creativity in the video.
It was fun to see how the project turned out.
Johan is very tall and friendly, lol. He was a fun person to be around. He would always crack a joke or two after every take.

MTribe: You were already familiar with video and commercial shootings, was there something special in this one with Madonna?

There's a funny moment in the "making of" special were we can see you talking to the other dancers in the London tube...

Mihran: Oh yeah, it is always different with Madonna because I learn so much from watching her work and trying to have everything perfect.
She spends quite a bit of time shooting her videos. The important thing is that we always have fun while we are working. I am glad you guys found that funny, lol.

MTribe: The "Hung Up" video and the performances on the promo tour include a lot of great dance moves and freestyle, what was your own contribution in making it so amazing and full of energy?

Mihran: See Madonna has a great idea of what each and every one of the dancers bring to the performance and when she feels like she needs us to freestyle, she kind of trusts what we can bring to the show.

Yes, we did include a lot of freestyle on the stage performances and that makes it more sporadic and fun.

MTribe: How would you describe Madonna fans? You had a chance to "experience them" quite a few times now. Did you notice any difference between the US leg of the tour, the European dates, the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Wetten Dass in Germany, the KOKO and G-A-Y gigs?

Mihran: Well, her fans are the craziest fans in the world, especially the fans in Europe. They come to her shows dressed up as Madonna, screaming, yelling, dancing and going crazy. We sometimes saw some of the same fans over and over. It is like they are her army rather than her fans.

MTribe: Which was the most memorable moment in this last promo tour? Do you have a show you are particularly proud of?

Mihran: The show at the G.A.Y Club was craziest, because the fans were out of control - screaming, yelling and throwing things.

MTribe: You've been working with Jamie King on the Madonna tour, the video and the promotion for the new album, but you also recently worked with him in the Nike Rock Star Workout. How was this experience for you and how is working with Jamie?

Mihran: I think that Jamie is one of the greatest and most interesting people I have ever met. I have learned a lot from Jamie and still do. It is like he is a genius. He can stand in front of the stage and it is like he can see exactly what is going to work and what is not. At the same time he is the most awesome and down to earth person you will ever meet.
He can use whatever is given to him and can still create the craziest show, with unique and unforgettable dancing.

MTribe: Let's talk about two more great artists you worked with in the recent years, Britney and Kylie. What did you do with them and how were they like?

Mihran: I did Britney’s promo tour for her latest album and I did a video with Kylie.

I only spent a few days with Kylie and from what I learned she is very nice and down to earth.

Britney Spears is closer to my age so we all would go out dancing, play games and act immature (it was fun). She is goofy, sweet and down to earth.

MTribe: How do you feel having such an amazing background and work experience with so many talented artists in the showbiz, and being very young after all?

Mihran: Yes, being 20 years old and accomplishing what I have accomplished is amazing. However, I won’t take all the credit. I have to thank so many of the people who believe in me and still work with me such as Madonna, and Jamie King.

MTribe: Working on the tour, Live8 and everything "Confessions" related you have spent many time with Madonna so far. What is your fondest memory of her?

Mihran: She is such an interesting person and she has made me want to change so much that it is hard to pick one memory.

I loved how Madonna and I would get into a conversation for hours because I would not agree with her on something. Then at that point she would bring in all of her knowledge of the books she has read and I would have nothing to say, but to get the book and read it for myself.

MTribe: Did your experience working with her change the opinion you had of her as an artist and as a human being?

Mihran: Ya, she is one of the coolest and smartest people. She loves to create challenges for people and it seems that she always creates a challenge for herself as well. Beneath the "Queen" image she is a wonderful mother, wife and friend. I have also learned that she is very educated and can talk to you on any subject for hours.

MTribe: How has your career changed after working with Madonna?