Ballet superstar returns to Jackson in July for gala

This summer, international ballet superstar Nina Ananiashvili will return to the Jackson stage that was a booster rocket for her career in the United States and worldwide.

In 1986 and already a Bolshoi Theatre principal, she and partner Andris Liepa were the first to win Grand Prix Awards at the USA International Ballet Competition, the event's coveted top prize. With Vadim Pisarev (a gold medalist that year), they were its first Soviet competitors. That year was a turning point, too, for the IBC, setting a high standard that gained national attention and catapulted it to must-watch status in international ballet circles.

Flash forward 30 years, leaping past her brilliant career with American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi and more, and Ananiashvili is the star attraction of a July 16 Grand Prix Reunion Gala. Now prima-ballerina and artistic director of The State Ballet of Georgia in her native Tbilisi, Georgia, she's bringing her company with her for a rare U.S. appearance that's already drawing interest from New York, Boston, Florida and more.

Ananiashvili was a star in the making in 1986. At 23, she'd already won a fistful of medals (1980 gold in Varna, 1981 Grand Prix as a junior and 1985 senior gold in Moscow). The win here opened doors and invitations, including a milestone performance with the New York City Ballet with partner Liepa. Her dance card includes all the big names and more: Royal Ballet (Covent Garden), Royal Danish Theatre, St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre.

She was an American Ballet Theatre principal dancer from 1993-2009 and her final bow with ABT brought a knee-high pile of bouquets, curtain calls and clapping so fervent and prolonged some wondered if it’d ever end. "She got 25 standing ovations after it was over. I thought it would never get through with standing ovations," said Billy Mounger, IBC chairman emeritus, who was in the audience. Later that night, he asked if she'd come back to Jackson as a juror, which she did in 2014. That year, he asked if she and her company would come for a performance, and made it happen.

This past December, The Telegraph in London named Ananiashvili among the 12 greatest ballerinas of all time, lauding her personal magic, technical wizardry and more.

John Meehan remembers that wizardry, right down to her steps in the traveling piqué turns. "The way she steps out, she traveled more than anyone I'd ever seen, certainly in a young dancer," said Meehan, 2018 USA IBC International Jury chair. In 1986, he'd brought two dancers from Australia to compete, "so I was enjoying Nina with a kind of mixed feeling," he chuckled."She had this wonderful technique and she had this wonderful sultry beauty and she was really the full package."

RELATED: John Meehan to chair 2018 IBC jury

"It was my first recognition of what pure artistry and excellence were," said Carol Puckett, now IBC board chairman, but back then just an awestruck ballet fan. "I'll never forget it. ... breathtaking." It'll be a thrill, she said, to watch her again at this stage of a magnificent career. A bridge between IBC past and present, the gala shows the longevity and deep ties formed between the competition and its dancers. "She's a prime example. These people become a part of our long-term lives."

Ananiashvili talked of her "long-distance love" of Jackson in a Dance Magazine interview.

The Reunion Gala, first to feature a company from another country, offers  a unique chance to see the State Ballet of Georgia — 21 dancers plus crew members and musicians — and "this glorious ballerina at the head... and still dancing," Meehan said. The program:

• "Sagalobeli" based on Georgian folk melodies by contemporary choreographer Yuri Possokhov.
• "Concerto Barocco," an abstract piece by George Balanchine to Bach music, "just filled with endless choreographic inventions that still look fresh today," Meehan said. "It really shows you what a genius Balanchine was."
• "Marguerite and Armand" featuring Ananiashvili, set by Frederick Ashton with music by Franz Liszt. Originally created for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, "it's a wonderful vehicle for a mature artist," Meehan said. The heartbreaker about a dying courtesan and her young lover is based on Alexandre Dumas' "The Lady of the Camellias" (also the source for Verdi's opera "La Traviata" and the 1936 Greta Garbo classic "Camille.") "I can't imagine anyone dancing today who would be more perfect for this role than Nina."

In addition to the Grand Prix Reunion Gala at Thalia Mara Hall, there will be a free community demonstration and Q&A and master classes. An art tie-in, in collaboration with VSA Mississippi, features paintings of IBC competitors in a show opening July 7 at the Arts Center of Mississippi.

RELATED:Medals awarded at USA International Ballet Competition | Gallery (2014)

Contact Sherry Lucas at slucas@gannett.com or 601-961-7283. Follow @SherryLucas1 on Twitter.

IF YOU GO

What: Grand Prix Reunion Gala

When: 7:30 p.m. July 16

Where: Thalia Mara Hall, 255 E. Pascagoula St., Jackson

Cost: $25-$70

Contact: usaibc.tix.com or 601-973-9249

Additional events: free community demonstration and Q&A at noon July 15 at Thalia Mara Hall; master classes at Belhaven University's Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center, 10 a.m. and noon July 16