search citypaper.net
  

					Also this issue: "4 Artists of Distinction" The African American Museum's "4 Artists of Distinction" is bright and deep. -Robin Rice Wlodzimierz Ksiazek: New Paintings -Susan Hagen Le Ballet National du Senegal -Deni Kasrel Beatlemania Now Project -Paul Burress Dealer's Choice -Shivani Mahendroo Donna Uchizono Co. -Deni Kasrel In the Shape of a Spider -Shivani Mahendroo Lucia di Lammermoor -David Shengold

November 14-20, 2002

artpicks

Georgian State Dance Company

by Janet Anderson

This is the real McCoy of folk dance troupes. Or maybe we should say the real McCaviar. The Georgian State Dance Company, founded back in 1945 when the Georgian Republic was still part of the old U.S.S.R., is one of the oldest and grandest of the high-stepping, beribboned outfits that tour the world dancing on their knees and leaping over each other. For one thing, it's huge -- around a hundred dancers and musicians, so it won't have any trouble at all filling up big Verizon Hall at the Kimmel where it appears for one performance only. And while you may associate flowers on tambourines and red boots with folk troupes, the Georgians are famous for being... elegant. With the ladies in long silver gowns and the gentleman in black tunics and swords, the dancers seem more like characters in a medieval painting than frolicking villagers. Yes, the men do all the preening, competing guy stuff, deep knee-bend kicks, full-body flips and some whacking about with swords. In fact, the Georgian men are famous for their effortless toe dance (in boots, not toe shoes). These big guys are definitely not swans. Think more Crouching Tiger. And the ladies perform that fascinating step where it looks like they are gliding across the stage. The third generation of the Sukhishvili family heads up the troupe, so the company doesn't just celebrate traditional material, it's very existence is a tradition.

Sun., Nov. 17, 2 p.m., $18-$62, The Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.