From the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, the Georgian State Dance Company has performed to over 50 million people in 87 countries.

In 1990 the performances of the Georgian State Dance Company was announced as the “Best show of the Year on Broadway”.

Georgia is known to many as the California of the Soviet Union, because of its rich, fertile land, sunny valleys, majestic forests and not least of all, it’s excellent wine! Not surprising then, this poetic land is expressed in many ballads, poems, songs and dances.

Visitors are often surprised when they arrive in Georgia to find a feeling of having entered a completely different country. They have indeed entered a completely different culture. From the mountains to the market place Georgia is a country that draws people back again and again.

The beauty and originality of the Georgian folk dances is perhaps due to their ability to reflect so many different aspects of Georgian life. They are divided according to their origin and content into ritual and ceremonial, work, game, and comic dances.

The advent of Christianity in Georgia during the first half of the 4th century and, at the same time, the survival of paganism in certain remote mountain districts, have similarly had an influence on Georgian Folk Dances.

In form, Georgian dances are divided into solo, pair and group. Each dancer has to subordinate to the requirements of a common plan and it’s expression in the dance. At the same time the performers do not lose their individuality, since several dances demand competition between partners in strength, agility, elevation and bold movements.

The role of female dancers is an interesting one. The woman never openly tries to attract her partners’ attention in the dance – as though she does not wish to be noticed by him.

She appears unaware of her partner’s tender feelings, maintaining an attitude of distance and awareness of her beauty. In the new folk dance’s, which have been created in the last 20 or 30 years, a change has been noticed in the pattern of women’s dances. They have acquired more liveliness, boldness and energy of movements without infringing, however, on the traditional strictness of the dancer’s conduct.

The male dancers can boast a highly original technique. Unlike any other dancers in the world, they dance on their toes and without the aid of “block” shoes. In the women’s dances, in contrast to classical ballet, dancing on pointes is unknown.