Circe – Experimental Platform for Dance and Theatre presents At the Educational and Scientific Institute of Classical Philology, Byzantine Studies, and Neo-Greek Studies of the Tbilisi State University Named after Ivane Javakhishvili Public lecture of Khatuna Mzarelua, a researcher of contemporary dance, MEDEA Accompanied by a video presentation of the ballet of the same name.
The one-act ballet “Medea” by Yuri Possokhov, a Ukrainian-born choreographer, was staged in 2002 for the San Francisco Ballet under the name “Damned”. On March 14, 2022, Zakaria Paliashvili Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theater performed Yuri Possokhov’s “Medea” for the first time.
The choreographer is inspired by the famous tragedy of Euripides. Yuri Possokhov’s Medea, as having divine (she is the granddaughter of the sun god, Helios) and royal (daughter of the king of Colchis, Aeëtes) blood, is unable to bear the insults inflicted by her mortal husband, even a Greek hero. Jason cannot mock the family of gods with a new wedding. Medea kills her children to go back to the way Jason was! Or, on the contrary, she kills her children so that Jason will never forget Medea!.
Understanding the phenomenon of Medea is considered a measure of the creativity of many choreographers.
Several ballets created on this theme entered the history of dance and art in general. In particular, Jean-Georges Nover’s “Medea and Jason” (1763), Martha Graham’s “Cave of the heart” (1946), Giorgi Aleksidze’s “Medea” (1978), Angelin Preljocaj’s “Medea’s dream”. Contemporary dance researcher Khatuna Mzarelua also reviews these productions.
The public lecture will end with a video screening of Yuri Possokhov’s ballet “Medea”.
Supporter of the project: Tbilisi City Hall.
Where: Institute of Classical Philology, Byzantine Studies, and Neo-Greek Studies of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue, No. 13, second floor, auditorium No. 220.
When: April 30, 2024, 20:00.
Attendance is free.
Khatuna Mzarelua is an independent journalist working in the field of art and culture and a contemporary dance researcher. She graduated from Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University. Philosophy by profession. In 2001-2003, she studied at the European Institute of the University of Geneva in the field of cultures and societies. It was during these years that she chose contemporary dance of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century as her field of study.
In 2011, Khatuna Mzarelua started a series of public lectures on dance. The non-governmental organization European House in Georgia and the French Institute of Georgia became supporters of the cycle. The purpose of these lectures is to popularize contemporary European dance and other art forms related to it in Georgia; Presenting the connections with Georgian art; Also, discussion of new versions of classic ballets that have become legends.
Khatuna Mzarelua cooperates with the magazine “Arabesque” of the State Ballet of Georgia.
In December 2022, with the main support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth of Georgia, her first book on dance “In cafe Muller” (Letters on Dance) was published.
Khatuna Mzarelua has received the Gold Medal of Francophone Values.
Khatuna Mzarelua’s public lectures are intended for a wide range of listeners and viewers, representatives of various fields of art, people interested in art.
Poster photo:
“Medea”
Choreographer Yuri Possokhov
State Ballet of Georgia
Photo © Lado Vachnadze