Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet premiere to pay homage to choreographer Giorgi Aleksidze

The Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet will pay homage to the legacy of late choreographer Giorgi Aleksidze by performing his 1999 ballet for the first time in 17 years at Tbilisi’s Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theatre next week.

The company will host the Evening of Giorgi Aleksidze Choreography, including performance of ballet miniatures as well as the full production Diplipito, staged by the former artistic director of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre ballet company.

Held on the Grand Stage of the Tbilisi venue on May 17 and 18, the event will feature dancers of the Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet as well as invited performers.

See dancers of the Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet rehearse ahead of the premiere below:

It will herald the newly founded company’s effort to "restore and revive” choreographic work of Aleksidze, known for contemporary stagings in the 1990s.

The program for the evening will feature Diplipito, staged by Aleksidze in 1999 and based on the theme of Phaedra, a figure from the ancient Greek mythology.

Its restored production was made possible in a collaboration involving company founder, dancer and choreographer Mariam Aleksidze, former State Opera House of Georgia leading soloist Marina Aleksidze and Ketevan Mukhashavria, the only dancer who performed in the original staging of the work.

A preview by the Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet said the plot for the ballet would feature a focus on plasticity in expression, in line with the original production. The restored principal role in the ballet will be performed by the company’s leading soloist Natia Bunturi.

Leading soloist Natia Bunturi in rehearsal ahead of the premiere. Photo: Tamar Jibuti/Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet.

The other segment of the program will feature miniatures staged on music by classical and contemporary composers from Johann Sebastian Bach to Dmitri Shostakovich and Giya Kancheli.

Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet was formed by Mariam Aleksidze, daughter of Giorgi Aleksidze, in early 2016. Aiming to preserve the choreographic legacy of the late choreographer, the company is also promoted as a platform for young choreographers and dancers in Georgia’s capital.

Established with support from Tbilisi City Hall, the company became the first Georgian contemporary ballet troupe with official state support.

The troupe officially launched in October with a performance of Dovin-Doven-Dovli, a ballet conceived by Giorgi Aleksidze and based on poetry by Georgia's celebrated 20th Century poet Galaktion Tabidze.