Giorgi Aleksidze Contemporary Ballet Chamber offers a new performance
By Messenger Staff
Friday, June 30
Gurji –khatun, story of the Georgian princess, will be staged at Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theatre
On July 4, Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theatre will host a premier performed by Giorgi Aleksidze Contemporary Ballet Company established last year in honor of the late Georgian Choreographer Giorgi Aleksidze. The performance named “Gurji-Khatun” describes a story of a Georgian princess and a granddaughter of Georgia’s famous Queen Tamar. The story of a beautiful Christian princess, who was married to a Sultan for political reasons, has become a theme of imagination for Georgian writers and choreographers due to the legends associated with her character.
“Through the feelings, emotions, relationships and changes in the mood of the chorus and the four main characters, I had to manage fusing two cultures and different worlds, fitting this into a very short time. Music played an extremely important role in achieving this,” says artistic director, Mariam Aleksidze.
The ballet on the theme of love “Gurji-Khatun” is based on Dato Turashvili’s novel, music was composed by Josef Bardanashvili. It was first staged in 2014 with Ana Kalatozishvili’s stage design. The performance was created within the framework of the project “Fantasia on the Theme of Georgian Folklore” implemented by Giorgi Aleksidze Foundation for the Development of Contemporary Choreography. The project, which united a series of Mariam Aleksidze’s original contemporary performances on the Georgian theme, was conceptualized through new artistic forms and aesthetics of contemporary ballet.
“In the process of searching for a choreographic language and forms of expression, I realize that the most important thing is for choreography to carry the cultural markers, the spirit with
which it will be charged, and what style I will choose for the choreographic language and what will be the different and new details of the body plasticity, will come on its own,” said Mariam Aleksidze.
The Ballet company, which was established in 2016 with the support of Tbilisi City Hall is the first contemporary ballet company supported by the state in Georgia.
