Georgian children dancer to perform in Warwick on Aug. 30

Warwick - This month Dancing Crane Georgian Performance Arts is hosting its first Georgian Dance Camp in Warwick, at the studio of the Peach Grove Inn. Classes will be held every day from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1. The Georgian Children’s Choreographic Ensemble “Pesvebi” will also perform a free concert on Aug. 30 on the Railroad Avenue Village Green at 6 p.m. The Dancing Crane Company is the creative work of long-time Warwick resident Victor Sirelson, a mathematician by profession, whose background also includes the ethnomusicology and dance of the Balkans. When he moved here from Los Angeles in 1970 Sirelson began to teach classes in Warwick for Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian and other Balkan dances. Local residents may recall that Sirelson and his wife, Lia, once managed Samaya Gifts and Arts and Café Samaya on Main Street. Lia Sirelson grew up in the Republic of Georgia, a country on the eastern side of the Black Sea, where she studied engineering and spent many years as an actress, writer and director in the dramatic theater. Dancing Crane, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in New York State and since that time has received grant support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and local county grants. In Warwick the Dancing Crane Company has offered presentations of dances from Georgia and is also well known for its choir of Georgian folk songs, “Mgzavruli.” Seven years ago Dancing Crane began a children’s program that now has more than 50 children enrolled in its Georgian dance classes. Students range in age from five to 19. Its award-winning performing ensemble, “Pesvebi,” which means “roots” in the Georgian language, performs almost every week at cultural events and concerts throughout the Metropolitan area. Lia Sirelson drew on her background as a talented Georgian playwright and actress and formed the Georgian Theater of New York together with several other leading professionals of the Georgian stage. “The Georgian Dance Camp is Dancing Crane’s return to Warwick with the children’s classes,” said Victor Sirelson. “And the August 30 performance on the Village Green is an expression of gratitude to the community that has been home to Dancing Crane all these years.” To register children for classes call Instructor Shorena Barbakadze: 347-644-4611 or e-mail info@dancingcrane.org. If there is interest they will also have classes for adults.