Meltha Magazine Online

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Meltha 2000, No 10 page 26

PART III. CURRENT EVENTS

THE HEYDAY OF «NINEVEH»

The final round of Georgia's Republican Festival of folk music groups took place in the State Academic Opera and Ballet theatre named after z. Paliashvili in Tbilisi on February 16, 2000. The Assyrian female folk dance group "Nineveh" had been qualified for the final too. According to the competitive jury of outstanding cultural workers of Georgian Republic the "Nineveh" group was given a 3rd honorary position in the final standings. This obviously is a great event in the cultural life of Assyrians in Georgian Republic. This happened at the hand of Mrs. Ljudmila Bet-Kash, the art director with the "Nineveh" art group. Her dedication and active work have added as much to the profile of the group where she was a star not along time ago touring Republic of Georgia, Russian Federation, the USA and Sweden. Her entire devotion and personal commitment helped her to create a fine art group within a short. time. It has already made its first appearance on the federal channels of Georgian and Russian television networks as early as in the last year.

The success of "Nineveh" is just another grade in the glorious history of the Assyrian community of Tbilisi which was set afoot a hundred years ago. And it is about the time when Shlimmun Bet Malik-Baba and Dr. Fraidoon Atturaya set up the premier Assyrian Drama Theatre. Later on in Tbilisi in the 1920s there was a very popular Assyrian art group molded by Mrs. Lilly Tamraz who molded another popular art group in Iran in years to come. In the early 1950s a drama group led by Mrs. Angelina Grigolia put " Ashug Kerib" on the stage, a very stunning musicle in the Assyrian language. In 1957 a vocal dance group of Angelina Grigolia won a prize at the Republican festival and then on the billboard of the World Forum of Youth and Students.

The Bulletin "Melta" congratulates Ljudmila Bet-Kash and the "Nineveh" folk group with this enormous success in their art line. We believe that Assyrian in Australia, Sweden, the USA and elsewhere in the world will be taken with the art of this unique artists and will give them a chance to perform even before bigger live audiences.

"Niveveh" dance group (Tbilisi)