Maria Perini

Maria Perini
Maria Perini
Born	March 10, 1873 Turin, Italy
Occupation	Ballet dancer

Maria Perini (1873–1939) was an Italian ballet teacher who studied under the Italian ballet dancer and teacher Enrico Cecchetti. In 1916, she opened the first private ballet studio in the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts building (the former House of Arshakuni) at Griboedovi street, Tbilisi, Georgia. In 1920, it became the State Ballet School of Opera and Ballet Theatre, where she became a teacher and director. Perini grew up with several well-known artists, among them Vakhtang Chabukiani, founders of the Georgian National Ballet theater Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili, Tamar Chabukiani, and Solomon (Soliko) Virsaladze. She was married to the Polish-Georgian artist Henryk Hryniewski.

Perini was born in Northern Italy and graduated from Turin Royal Opera ballet school. She performed alongside such well-known dancers as V. Zucchi, P. Lenian, E. Cecchetti (Cecchetti later (1892-1902) taught at the Royal Ballet School of St. Petersburg, where his students were A. Pavlova, V. Nijinsky, M. Fokine, O. Preobrajenskaya and other great dancers.) In 1891 Perini was invited to perform at the Tbilisi Opera Theatre as soloist. She was the first to perform 32 fouettes for the Georgian audience and showed virtuoso performance of ballet moves. In 1897 – 1907, she was prima ballerina at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, followed by pedagogical and concert activities. Her name is closely tied with foundation of Georgian Ballet school, while her methods of teaching classical dance together with generations she has raised, laid solid foundations for developing Georgian ballet.

In 1922, in a house of merchant Arshakun, on the Commandant Street, the Academy of Arts of Georgia was founded. Till 1937, the wing of this building served as workshop of artist, professor of the academy-HenrykHryniewski- and as ballet studio for his spouse, brilliant Italian ballerina Maria Perini.

Hryniewski, a native Pole, got art education in Florence, and upon returning to Georgia became founder of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, together with D. Chubinashvili, I. Nikoladze, E. Lanceres, A. Kalgin and others .In 1916, Hryniewski ‘s wife, Perini, established the first choreographic studio of classical dance in Tbilisi, where impressive ballet production of Coppeliaby Delibes, dance act from The Blue Birdby Maeterlinck were staged. The studio raised many masters of the Georgian ballet art, including Dimitri and Irina Aleksidze, Maria Bauer, Soliko Virsaladze, Nino Ramishvili, Iliko Sukhishvili, Vakhtang Chabukiani, Elene Chikvaidze, Maria Kazinets, Elene Gvaramadze and others.

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