The Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet - Khorumi

The Georgian National Ballet ( ka, ქართული ეროვნული ბალეტი, tr) is the first professional state dance company in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Founded by husband and wife Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili in 1945, it was initially named as the Georgian State Dance Company. The Georgian National Ballet has performed at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

, The Coliseum,

The Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

and

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, among others. In 1967, the dance company performed at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

, reportedly the first and the only time a folklore group was given a chance to perform on its stage. The costumes were designed by Simon (Soliko) Virsaladze from 1908–1989. Currently, the founders' son Tengiz Sukhishvili is the artistic director and general manager of the Georgian National Ballet. His spouse, Inga Tevzadze, is also a former dancer, now a ballet master. Iliko Sukhishvili Jr. is a chief choreographer of the Georgian National Ballet today. Nino Sukhishvili (the granddaughter of Iliko and Nino) is a deputy-manager and costume designer. The Georgian National Ballet has seventy dancers and a small orchestra. The dance company also owns a school, which provides dance lessons to children and adolescents. In 2020, the School of the Georgian National Ballet began offering online lessons in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. A performance by the Georgian National Ballet's dancers in which the female dancers, wearing long skirts, appeared to glide across the floor was an inspiration for writer

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Survivo ...

in creating the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 ''Doctor Who'' ...

s for the television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''.

References

External links

* Dance in Georgia (country) Folk dance companies {{Dance-stub