Tblisi-born Kirov Ballet star Vakhtang Chabukiani was the first director of the State Ballet of Georgia, leading the company from 1935 until 1973. Since 2004, the company has been directed by another Tblisi native, the international ballerina Nina Ananiashvili. Ananiashvili joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1981 and later became the company’s prima ballerina, bringing a group of Bolshoi soloists to the Pillow in 1999. She has guested with companies all over the world and was a principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre from 1993 to 2009. Three years after returning to her native Georgia, Ananiashvili introduced her new company to Jacob’s Pillow, appearing again with an entirely different repertoire in 2010. The work seen here was only the fourth work by Sir Frederick Ashton ever to be performed at the Pillow, though he has since been represented here by Monotones I.
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