Portal:Tbilisi

Tbilisi (IPA: [ˌtbiˈliːsi], in Georgian: თბილისი), the capital and the largest city of Georgia, is an important industrial, social and cultural centre of the Caucasus, quickly becoming one of the major transport hubs for global energy resources and trade goods (see Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerrum Pipeline). Conveniently located between the Black and Caspian seas City was on the historic Great Silk Road and thus always played significant part in trade/transit with Russia, Turkey, Middle East and Europe.

Nina Ananiashvili (also: Nino Ananiashvili, Georgian: ნინო ანანიაშვილი) (born March 28, 1963) is a Georgian ballerina.

She was born in Tbilisi, then Georgian SSR, Soviet Union. She entered the Georgia State Choreographic Institute ინ 1969. In 1976 she continued at the Moscow Choreographic Institute where her main teacher was Natalia Zolotova. In 1980, Nino made her stage debut in a school production of Coppelia. She graduated and entered the Bolshoi Ballet in 1981. In 1983 she was promoted to the rank of soloist and performed in her native Tbilisi as a professional for the first time. Eventually she rose to become a prima ballerina. She, along with Andris Liepa, was the first Soviet dancer to appear as a guest performer with the New York City Ballet in 1988 (she had danced in "Raymonda Variations", "Apollo" and "Symphony in C" there). She became a principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre in 1993, and in 1999 she joined the Houston Ballet in same rank. (more...)

from Wikipedia's articles:

• ...Tbilisi Funicular (pictured on Pirosmani painting) was built in 1905 by Belgian structural engineer Alphonse Robe...
• ...Tbilisi was the host of the first sanctioned rock festival in Soviet Union in 1983 called "Spring Rhythms. Tbilisi-80".
• ...The first human settlements in Tbilisi date back to 4th millennium BC...
• ...The first railway for kids in Europe was built in Tbilisi in 1935 in Mushtaidi Park...
• ...The belltower of Sioni Cathedral is the earliest example of classicism in Tbilisi...