Choreographic ensemble “Merani”
The first Georgian folk dance choreographic group was established in 1934 at the industrial institute thanks to the idea of Aliosha Avaliani. Jano Bagrationi, a distinguished opera and ballet theatre dancer, led the group. Then the Polytechnic Institute’s choreographic ensemble was led by Georgia’s Public Artist, Giorgi Darakhvelidze. The ensemble earned a number of major achievements under his direction. The participation of student-dancers in a very important tour in England at the famous “Royal Albert Hall” in January 1960 is especially notable. “Go see the Georgian ensemble, those who love dancing and those who don’t will love it!” stated the English press at the time. “You can’t describe this sight in words, such a sight is not remembered by the English viewer!” , “The Battle of Tybalt and Romeo in” the play “Romeo and Juliet “by the performance of the Bolshoi Theatre is very weak compared to the Georgian mkhedruli!” , “Beautiful dreamlike women and courageous knights, Georgians are the first dancers in the world!”
During the tour, the King of Sweden visited London for a single day to celebrate his birthday. 2,000 Swedes in London hosted a jubilee banque at which the monarch did not show up…. He went to attend a concert of Georgian dancers and was pleasantly surprised. The trip continued successfully in Belgium and Luxembourg following the England tour.
Darakhvelidze has been replaced as Honoured Artist of the Republic and laureate of world festivals by Otar Popiashvili since 1964. Roman Chokhonelidze (Public Artist of Georgia, Honoured Art Worker of the Republic of North Ossetia) was one of the ensemble’s leading soloists at the time. Revaz Chokhonelidze, a Konfolan (France) International Festival laureate, recognised cultural worker, and graduate of our institute, was invited to conduct the ensemble in 1967. The ensemble was previously headed by Revaz Gurgenidze, a soloist of the “Rustavi” ensemble, and has been led since 1993 by Tamaz Kobakhidze, a graduate of GTU and a former soloist of the “Rustavi” group, and his wife, Nino Laziashvili, a soloist of the “Rustavi” ensemble. The ensemble achieved first place and became a laureate in the festival of folk choreographic ensembles in Bursa, Turkey, in 2009 and 2011. They received first prize and laureate in the festival in Varna, Bulgaria, in 2018. The ensemble’s concerts in Greece, particularly in Athens and on the island of Kerkyra, were a huge success. The ensemble was named laureate and first place winner of the international folk dance festivals in Thessaloniki and Kerkyra, Greece, in 2022.
Graduates of GTU’s choreographic ensemble have found success in the state ensembles “Sukhishvili”, “Erisioni”, and “Rustavi”.