Ilia Ilich Sukhishvili

Born Mar. 22 (Apr. 4), 1907, in Tbilisi. Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer. People’s Artist of the USSR (1958). Member of the CPSU since 1944.

Sukhishvili graduated from a studio of Georgian dance in 1924. He joined the Georgian Theater of Opera and Ballet as a dancer in 1926 and was a ballet soloist and director of Georgian dances there from 1928 to 1932, from 1935 to 1939, and from 1941 to 1945. From 1933 to 1935 he pursued advanced studies at the Bolshoi Theater. In 1939 he staged dances in other theaters. From 1939 to 1941 he was a soloist with the Order of the Red Banner Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Red Army. In 1945, together with N. Sh. Ramishvili, he organized the Folk Dance Ensemble of Georgia. He subsequently directed the ensemble and until 1954 appeared in it as a soloist.

Sukhishvili combines ancient folk-dance traditions with the beauty and plasticity of modern Georgian dance in such works as Partsa, Khorumi, Georgian Suite, Khevsurian Suite, Kartuli, and The Man in the Panther’s Skin, a choreographic work based on Sh. Rustaveli’s epic poem.

Sukhishvili has been awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1949), the Sh. Rustaveli Prize (1972), two orders, and various medals.