Georgian folk dancers entertain visitors at Summer Entertainment City

Summer is a time to enjoy indoor activities during the holidays. There are many attractions available in Doha during these summer vacations. One such place is the ongoing Sumer Entertainment City (SEC) at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC).
On its soft opening day – Tuesday, the entertainment city offered lots of attractions. One such fascinating activity was a cultural dance performance presented by a Georgian dance group in collaboration with the embassy of Georgia in Doha.
The artistes of Georgian National Ballet “Sukhishvili” enthralled the audience with their classical and cultural dances. The performers clad in colourful traditional Georgian dresses danced on the folk music. The attraction was very amazing and engaging for the visitors as they got glued to the stage where the dances were performed.
People of all ages and backgrounds including women and children enjoyed the classical performance by the Georgian ballet dancers as it was really fun for them to find such an attraction at a festive place.
Adil Ahmed, QSports founder and board member, told Community that the Georgian National Ballet ‘Sukhishvili’, globally renowned for its modernised folkloric themes (choreography, music) filled with classical dance elements performed on the first three days of Eid. The dancers performed five shows everyday and in total 15 shows.
The dance show forms a part of the cultural and daily live performances and roaming shows at the entertainment city. The other embassies that will offer their folk dance performances at the festival  include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and South Africa, among others.
Talking to Community, Khatia Ekizashvili, Executive Manager & Deputy Director Sukhishvili, said: “Georgian National Ballet “Sukhishvili” was officially founded in 1945 by Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili and was the first professional state dance company in Georgia.
“It’s utterly due to them that Georgian national dance became popular all over the world. Since 1945, three generations of Sukhishvili family are managing the Georgian National Ballet. Nowadays, Nino Sukhishvili, granddaughter of the founders, is general director/CEO and Iliko Sukhishvili Jr., grandson of the founders, is an artistic director and chief choreographer of the company.”
Khatia further said: “In over 500 tours Georgian National Ballet numerously toured 5 continents, more than 90 countries, held over 10, 000 concerts and over 50 million people have watched its performances.
“The usual two-hour-long programme of Georgian National Ballet is a story about fight, suffering and heroism of the Georgian people. It offers fabulous costumes and gorgeous choreography portraying Georgian soul – men surprise with their temperament and reflect both warlike and noble nature and stunningly beautiful women, floating on the stage, fascinating spectators with their charming dance. The whole programme brings up the history of Georgia to the trial of the audience.”
She added: “Georgian National Ballet has always been innovating, evolving and advancing the Georgian dances. The folkloric themes – choreography and music – are being modernised and filled with classical dance elements. That’s what makes the company so unique, successful and demanding throughout its existence. The Georgian National Ballet has around 150 dancers and its own orchestra.”
Explaining the dance performances carried out at SEC, she said: “’Lazuri’ – the couple’s movements are more frivolous. This dance is close to the modernistic esthetics.
“‘Samaia’ – This dance brings to life 12th century resuscitated fresco. Based on the portraits of the King Tamar, typical of Georgian monumental medieval art.
“‘Ilouri’ – This piece originally created and performed by founders of Georgian National Ballet based on Lekuri Dance, but modified where ladies are also dressed as men and performing equal steps and moves.
“‘Juta’ is the name of a small village on the border of Georgia, which was a trans-shipment point. In old times, this place was well known for horse thieves. This is a new choreography based on the traditional folk movements.
“‘Khonga’ is a dance invitation, based on Ossetian melody.”
The company’s representative further said: “We recently performed at Katara during a cultural diversity festival. I think the organisers of the entertainment city saw our performance at Katara and invited us again here in summer. Usually we travel with 45 to 75 persons. For this show, we are only 15 people here. Uually we perform with live orchestra. We have our own band. This time we have to depend on the recorded music.” She added: “I really love visiting different Arab countries. Qatar is an example of success in the modern world. This summer we will also be performing in different European counties. In winter, we will perform in Muscat.”