Boosting Tourism through Ballet

The dancers of the State Ballet of Georgia are to run a dance workshop for Georgian locals and foreign visitors to enhance their cultural experiences.

Maya Kilani of travel company dUS Travel, approached the State Ballet about her "sustainable and responsible company,” which operates in Georgia and Nepal, some months ago, explaining that she would like to put together a number of very unique experiences for those traveling to Georgia, accessible to both residents and guests.

“Dance workshops are becoming extremely popular in the USA and Europe,” Kilani says. “But not so much in Georgia or Nepal yet. Although traditional dance is very popular in both countries, not much is offered besides performance shows. Tourists increasingly want more from their holidays- they want more flavor, more choices; to try something different. Our differentiation is to offer a lot of off-the-beaten-track experiences besides regular tours.

With over 800 programs “à la carte," with trip durations from one day to 5 months, dUS Travel offers experiential and immersive experiences (such as musical troop immersion, agritourism, etc); adventurous / extreme / multi-adventure programs, wellness and healthcare programs, exploratory and unique local expeditions (such as tiger tracking, honey hunting, festival tours, dolphin expeditions, etc., wildlife / ecotourism programs, artistic / creative programs and more.

British soloist at the State Ballet of Georgia, William Pratt, then put forward the idea of a holding a Contemporary and Choreography workshop.

“The contemporary scene and choreographic scene is very underdeveloped in Georgia,” Pratt says. “But it has potential for growth as there are lots of dancers interested in exploring different ways of moving and there is an audience, as we’ve seen with the success of the contemporary programs of the State Ballet of Georgia and the newly founded Giorgi Aleksidze Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet”.

Pratt has experience teaching both classical ballet and contemporary.

“He taught with great success at the ballet festival we organized in Japan and he’s to teach the boys at the Vakhtang Chabukiani State Ballet School from the upcoming season,” Dutch soloist Frank van Tongeren told us. “He’s also had experience as a private teacher and at the Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet.”

“When I was in Hong Kong, I used to choreograph, but when I came to Tbilisi I was so occupied with performing for the State Ballet and there were no opportunities to choreograph, since the company doesn’t develop its own residential choreographers,” van Tongeren went on. “Developing new work is essential in the international dance scene of today. Even at the big classical ballet companies such as The Royal Ballet they have residential choreographers that create new work for the company, challenging the dancers to express themselves in very different ways than they might be used to. Towards the end of the season, I suddenly got a strong sense that I needed to start choreographing and soon created a pas de deux for Yonen Takano and Tamta Bakhtadze which they will perform in Fukuoka, Japan, in August, and a solo for a Georgian dancer working in the Boston Ballet, which he’ll perform at a competition in Korea. Because of this, Will thought of asking me to add a choreography workshop to the contemporary classes”.

The workshop will run from August 28 until September 1. The creators claim it is a “trial version” to gauge interest and the potential for future workshops.

Together with Maya Kilani from dUS Travel, it has already been decided to hold a second workshop in October/November with a performance as a presentation on the last day for which voluntary tickets can be bought from which the income goes straight to the Friends of the Georgian Ballet (a non-profit organization that supports the State Ballet of Georgia and the Vakhtang Chabukiani State Ballet School)- dates to be confirmed.

The second workshop will see greater involvement from dUS Travel with regards promoting the workshop, which will probably attract a lot more foreigners traveling to explore Georgia.

“The dUS Travel website is set to launch in December, but Maya wants to kick off some of the events/activities before that,” the Van Tongeren says. “The idea is to continue organizing workshops with Maya and from December tourists will be able to put together their own travel packages on the website- for example, book their hotel, workshop and sightseeing activities all on one website”.

Kilani says she chose Georgia because, “Georgia is full of treasures and lots of off-the-beaten-track experiences, and the country is becoming well-known as a premier tourism destination, centered on its unique cultural and natural heritage, and famous tradition of hospitality. People come and love to see dance performances but they also love to try new experiences. Basically, it is a niche with a lot of potential”.

dUS Travel has five charity partnerships in Nepal and in Georgia, representing different causes: wildlife conservation, civil war victims, children’s rights, street dogs and arts education. In Georgia, arts education is represented by the Friends of Georgian Ballet.

WHERE: State Opera House, Tbilisi, Georgia

WHEN: August 28 to September 1, 3pm-4:30pm Contemporary Class, 5pm-6:30pm Choreographic Workshop

WHO: The workshop is suitable for students, professionals and dance enthusiasts 13+.

PRICE: EUR 200 for the 5-day workshop. 25 percent of the fee for the course will be donated to the Friends of the Georgian Ballet. 25% discount for max ten Students of the Vakhtang Chabukiani State Ballet School 

For more information and to reserve your place contact: tbilisidance@gmail.com or info@dustravel.com

dUS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/infodustravel/

Katie Ruth Davies