Georgian National Ballet

[RPSharman]

Please enjoy this short clip of what was an absolutely remarkable rehearsal of about 1 hour, which included this fantastic clip, a traditional wedding dance with only 2 dancers, and some a capella performances by Georgia's premiere folk singing group.

I wish the video could give the experience Rich (my boom guy) and I felt being in this old rehearsal studio with these dancers.  The force of their steps vibrating the floor.  It was truly an honor to have been able to experience this performance.  We thought we were going just to see a couple of dancers and the folk singer so the director could decide if they would perform in an important wedding celebration scene in the movie (Rich and I were the only crew there other than the director and producers), but instead we were treated to this incredible FULL rehearsal of their performance.

This experience makes me remember why we do what we do.  Never would I have ended up here if it wasn't for being in this business.

Robert

[JimMansen]

May be me  and the way my account is set up but You Tube refuses to show me the video.  Saying "this video is private" By the way, I agree about the special nature of what we do for a living.

[RPSharman]

Oh - sorry.  I'll ask Rich to make it public today.

[John Blankenship]

Robert,

I hate to be the one to ask this -- I really do.

But, do you have clearance from the company for whom you were doing "work for hire" to publish this?

Just askin', as not long ago, in a burst of enthusiasm, I thought, "Wow, it'd be great to share some of this with my friends online."  I was thinking in terms of my backup recordings of the Medal of Honor recipient upon whom the military portion of the Forest Gump character was based -- some stunningly super cool stuff.  Then, in a rush of personal embarrassment I realized that what I had just considered was, of course, unethical if I failed to clear it with my client.

Forgive me for even asking, but we're among friends -- right?

John B.

[John Blankenship]

I'm not trying to nit pick, John, but I was wondering if it was a typo, "Metal of Honor recipient..."  I think you meant Medal of Honor?  Unless this was some type of award from Ozzy Osbourne.

RVD

Thanks, Rich, good catch -- wee hours of the morning and all that -- your comment gave me a good laugh, though. 

Let's see... the medal is made out of metal?

Corrected, ex post facto, for all of posterity.

JB

[RPSharman]

Really good question, John.  It's actually why it was initially posted privately by my boom guy, because he thought about privacy issues.  We then talked about it.  This was a personally shot video using a still camera.  Others were also taping the rehearsal with video cameras.  There were no "production" cameras or audio recording devices there.  We decided that the ballet company themselves would be happy with it, and there are other "proper" performances also on YouTube.

So here we are...

Enjoy

[Eric Toline]

Really good question, John.  It's actually why it was initially posted privately by my boom guy, because he thought about privacy issues.  We then talked about it.  This was a personally shot video using a still camera.  Others were also taping the rehearsal with video cameras.  There were no "production" cameras or audio recording devices there.   We decided that the ballet company themselves would be happy with it, and there are other "proper" performances also on YouTube.

So here we are...

Enjoy

Absolutely amazing and stunning. I got dizzy watching the spinning person at around :40 sec in.

Eric

[Peter Mega]

Amazing!! They dance with such conviction.

Reminds me of Armenian dance (I'm Armenian) but I think these Georgian dancers are arguably better in some ways.

Georgia and Armenia are neighbours so I guess the similarity is due to that.

Thanks for an interesting post.

Peter Mega

[RPSharman]

Just watched it again, and brought back some great memories.

The floor amazes me too.  Talk about wear!

Robert

[soundtrane]

Truly wonderful display of athletics married to form and style. I wish I could see it in person someday, it's been a longtime dream of mine to visit these countries...

An absolutely wonderful film about Niko Pirosmani - the Georgian painter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064815/

And Armenian filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov's (Paradzhanov or Parajanov) works are truly amazing too.

When I was at film school in 1993, I was lucky to see MANY prints of East European cinema. These may still exist at the National Film Archive in Pune, India. However, most of them are not shown anymore at the film school just a block away. I have seen the cream of East European cinema then... and it's all still alive in my heart and mind.

-vin

[Peter Mega]

Just watched this again with my wife and she couldn't believe how amazing these dancers are too.

Truly wonderful. Would love to see it live. I'll have to pop next door to Georgia when I visit my mother land (Armenia) one day and try to check it out!!

Cheers

Peter Mega