amazing dancers from Georgia, the country

October 7, 2010 7:14 PM

Wow l more. That incredible and joyous exuberance was created by the Georgian National Ballet, Sukhishvili in training l On stage in costume.

About Georgian folk dance.

More of the Georgian National Ballet Sukhishvili. A review with a little more about them from Prague TV.

Georgia, the country.

posted by nickyskye (26 comments total)

I have splinters in my knees from just watching this.
posted by unliteral at 7:20 PM on October 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Wow, that is incredible.
posted by Aubergine at 7:29 PM on October 7, 2010

totally awesome
posted by facetious at 8:03 PM on October 7, 2010

Great find!
posted by puddinghead at 8:13 PM on October 7, 2010

So, I think we're looking at Mtiuluri (from that "About" link):

Mtiuluri - Mtiuluri is also a mountain dance. Similar to Khevsuruli, Mtiuluri is also based on competition. However, in this dance, the competition is mainly between two groups of young men. It is more like a celebration of skill and art. At first, groups compete in performing complicated movements. Then, we see girl’s dance, which is followed by individual dancer's performance of amazing "tricks" on their knees and toes. At the end, everyone dances a beautiful final. This dance truly reminds us of a festival in the mountains.

posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:14 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Amazing.
posted by carter at 8:25 PM on October 7, 2010

Riverdanski
posted by pianomover at 8:29 PM on October 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

In Soviet Russia ballet dances you....oh wait. Awsome. Especially the first YTL.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 8:40 PM on October 7, 2010

groups compete in performing complicated movements.

It would sure be daunting to compete at dance in the former Soviet Union.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:42 PM on October 7, 2010

wow... that is some *fierce* joy

thanks for this!
posted by jammy at 8:52 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

wow is right! thanks!
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:20 PM on October 7, 2010

After doing ballet for about 20 years, I feel I can say with some authority--that is amazing! Those guys are really impressive. I would love to see more of what the girls do.

Also: bonus points for excellent use of "exuberance." I can't think of a better description.
posted by chatongriffes at 9:53 PM on October 7, 2010

There were/are state-sponsored Georgian folk-dance companies, operas, film and literature - as part of a program put in place by Stalin, pre-WWII, to preserve ethnic Georgian culture. (Ironically those same policies made Georgia less traditional as peasant life changed to industrial modes.) I don't know if dance is still state-sponsored, probably so, not that it matters, just curious how things carry on. The dancers are outrageously good, almost digital in precision and speed.
posted by stbalbach at 10:48 PM on October 7, 2010

This is an incredible dance ensenbel! Most Eastern European countries take great pride in their traditional dance and music, even in exile.

I get kind of tired of hearing about Riverdance. Riverdance is not representative of real Irish dance.

Back to the Georgians, it is wonderful dance, but anyone can see that this is very ballet based. Real Georgian dance is still very skilled and precise.

The film probably does not do justice to the female performers at all.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:07 AM on October 8, 2010

კარგი!
posted by LMGM at 12:30 AM on October 8, 2010

or, more appropriately: სასწაულებრივი!
posted by LMGM at 12:31 AM on October 8, 2010

A video that had my heart in my chest.
posted by seagull.apollo at 1:06 AM on October 8, 2010

It's like Riverdance but with more knives and less sweatbands!

...and actually much cooler.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 4:28 AM on October 8, 2010

The one where they do a sweep of the stage pirouetting on their knees is something I have never seen before. That must hurt like hell. It is hard to imagine they are not doing permanent damage to themselves doing that. Maybe they absorb most of the impact along the whole length of their lower legs?
posted by bukvich at 4:53 AM on October 8, 2010

My thougts, in order:

1) If more ballet/dance were like this, I'd watch.
2) Owww...knees dude.
3) possibly my favorite thing to come out of the Caucasus.

Thanks for the links.
posted by dry white toast at 5:04 AM on October 8, 2010

bukvich, i noticed that too, especially when they leap in the air and land directly on their knees, DAMN. But I like I see some kind of leg protection in those first videos (and I hope those are stage swords they're dueling with in the last video, otherwise this may have just trumped boar-baiting as the "World's most Dangerous Dance!").
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:00 AM on October 8, 2010

Wow. And ow.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:06 AM on October 8, 2010

The talk about knee pain reminds me, very obliquely, of a show I saw years ago in Pittsburgh by a guy with a sort of punk rock sideshow act: sword swallowing, glass eating, fire eating, tenpenny nail up the nose, all that stuff. He'd taken a sort of public skeptic approach to the whole thing (reminded me, young nerd that I was, of a cross between James Randi and the Cagliostro character's anarchist-magician routine from Schrödinger's Cat) — after each stunt he would explain what the trick was, the gimmick that let him do it in a safe, painless, more-or-less healthy way.

His last trick of the evening, after we'd gotten used to the idea that everything was under control, went like this: He shattered a light bulb and spread the shards across a small square of the floor, and then jumped up and down on it barefoot, hard, six times. He might have been bluffing, I suppose, but his explanation — given in a steady voice just before he left the stage — was that really it hurt like a motherfucker and the only trick was learning not to cringe.

I suspect there's some kind of trick to that landing on the knees bit. But it's possible that one component of the trick is it just hurts like a motherfucker.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:45 AM on October 8, 2010

That said: (a) I'm pretty sure I see kneepads in some shots; (b) there's gotta be a fuckton of skill involved just in executing and controlling those knee-spin landings, regardless of where they fall on the pain/no-pain spectrum. Didn't mean to denigrate these guys' technique, which is clearly tight as hell.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:54 AM on October 8, 2010

I was at a wedding in Georgia a few weeks ago and the dancers (all amazing) did that knee-landing thing. This was outside on a stone floor and I could feel the ground shake when they landed about 4 meters away. They must have been wearing kneepads but you couldn't tell.
posted by chrispy at 2:54 PM on October 8, 2010

Having lived in Georgia for two years I can attest to there being a strong musical nature to these people and a strong inability to drive safely. But I do suggest giving it a visit as you will surely make intensely loyal friends.
posted by tarvuz at 6:44 PM on October 8, 2010 [2 favorites]