Children’s Programs
We have one of the most comprehensive programs in the United States of children’s classes focused on Georgian traditional arts.
Our Classes
Dance
Our Georgian dance and ballet classes are taught according to traditional techniques by professionals who performed with the best dance ensembles in Georgia. Dance students of all disciplines, including ballet, hip hop, and Georgian dance ensemble “Legends,” participate in both classwork and performance.
See below for a section highlighting "Legends.”
A video of our “Legends” class, in Georgian, is here.
A video of our Hip Hop dance class is here.
Vocal music
Master musician Tengiz Shautidze also provides vocal training for students of all ages. Vocal lessons are also taught by Eka Chichua. This year we have begun a class for children in Georgian song traditions, taught by Paata Tsitskhladze
A video of our Georgian Song Traditions class, in Georgian, is here.
Instrumental music
Tengiz Shautidze is a master musician, specializing in violin and guitar. Classes provide individual instruction and students perform at many of our studio and concert events. Piano is taught by Nino Gharibashvili
Art
Our short films class gives hands-on immersion into the worlds of film making. Conceive, Design, Write Scripts, Act, and Video Camera work, with the finished product of a real film.
A video of our short films class, in Georgian, is here.
Our plastic arts classes in painting and sculpture offer disciplined and creative training in these disciplines.
Georgian Language and Culture
We provide a good grounding in Georgian life with classes in Georgian language and culture, with the curriculum including historical texts and stories drawn from Georgian history.
A video of our Georgian language class, in Georgian, is here.
Georgian Theatre
ABOUT GEORGIAN THEATER
Georgian theater emerged as a high art form along with European and Russian dramatic theater. Our professional Georgian Theater of New York is unique as the only US professional theater company specializing in Georgian theater. Our children's programs grew out of the desire of our theater professionals to work with Georgian children.
THEATER CLASSES
The Georgian Children’s Theater classes are taught by renowned Georgian actress Tsutsa Kapanadze and take place at our Brooklyn studio. We now have 25 younger children active in this program, ages 5-14. The weekly classes include elements of acting, reciting and stage performance. Children study acting and vocal techniques and memorize and learn to recite poetry in the Georgian language.
A video of our Georgian Children’s Theater class, in Georgian, is here.
MUSICAL THEATER WORKSHOP
Our musical theater workshop has engaged a group of Georgian adolescents for more than ten years. It is taught by our theater director and playwright Lika Bakhturidze Sirelson. This program integrates the arts of theater, song and dance in an intense study that encourages each child to work at the peak of their abilities. Songs are mostly in English while the dialogue is mostly in Georgian, an approach that honors the everyday experience of immigrant Georgian children who are immersed in contemporary American culture and yet want to deepen their connection to their Georgian roots. We have begun classes for younger children as well.
The productions are a collaboration with the choreography work of our Ballet instructor Ana Gadelia and singing instruction by our music studio instructor Tengiz Shautidze.
Highlight: The Class for the Children’s Traditional Folk Dance Ensemble “Legends”
According to tradition we teach Georgian dance as a refined art form. Because the technique is very complete and rigorous the children learn balance, sense of rhythm, poise, sensitivity to one's body and ability to pay attention simultaneously to different activity in different parts of the body. All parts of the body are engaged with special attention given to posture, arm and leg movements. There is a strong emotional component from the dances and music, which are designed by long tradition to engage the joy, exuberance and aspirations of the participants.
To support this the music for the dance classes is provided live by our Georgian musicians.
The classes are taught primarily in the Georgian language, which supports the sense of Georgian culture in the students. At the same time classes are open to all nationalities, and Georgian, Russian and English are all used as appropriate.
Everything that is learned in the classes is intensified with performance. This provides the opportunity for the children to strive for a very high level. It also strengthens qualities such as personal responsibility, memory, coordination with choreography, initiative, and so forth. All children perform in events with the Georgian church, at our studio and in our annual concert. Those who have advanced sufficiently with the dancing participate in more of the public performances.
The ensemble is held to the highest standard of performance and offers a continuous inspiration for the children to strive to master the art of Georgian dance. The ensemble performs 10-15 times each year for different events. The annual concert is a special event that includes even the youngest of the students with dances appropriate to their level. Preparation for this performance is a major effort, not only to master the dance choreographies but also to understand the costumes and relations between the dancers. We choose a major concert hall to give a sense of maturity and character to the performance effort.
Watch “Legends” here, here, and in Georgian, here.