Maia Makhateli (born ca. 1986) is a Georgian ballet dancer. After terms with the

Colorado Ballet Colorado Ballet encompasses a 31-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an Academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more tha ...

and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, she joined the

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

in 2006, where she now is a principal dancer.

Early life

Makhateli was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, Georgia. Her parents, Nikoloz Makhateli and Marina Loladze, were dancers at the Georgian National Ballet. Her grandfather was a notable folk dancer and her grandmother was an opera singer. Her older brother

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

is also a dancer (formerly a principal with

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

). Starting at age 9, she trained in ballet at the Vakhtang Chabukiani Choreographic Choreographic Institute in Tbilisi with Larisa Chkikvishvili.

Career

When she was 15, her father was offered a job with the Sun Valley Ballet School in

Ketchum, Idaho Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, located in the central part of the state. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census, up from 2,689 in 2010. Located in the Wood River Valley, Ketchum is adjacent to Sun Valley and the communities sh ...

, US. Makhateli also attended the school, where she danced in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

'' together with her brother David. Her parents now run the Makhateli Ballet Academy in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. Maia trained in Colorado with German Zamuel and Valentina Mukhanova. In 2002, she joined the

. She made her full length principal role debut at age 19, dancing Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty''. Hoping to dance for a bigger company and be closer to Europe, she joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet as a soloist in 2006. That year, paired with her brother, she danced ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the World International Ballet Festival in Tokyo, saying, "It's quite hard to be Juliet when Romeo is your brother." After finding England 'too cold and grey', she auditioned for the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. She joined the DNB in 2007 as a '. Two years later, she became a soloist, and she was promoted to principal dancer in 2010. She has danced leading roles such as Aurora in ''The Sleeping Beauty'' and Odette/Odile in '' Swan Lake''. In 2020, Makhateli originated the role of Frida Kahlo in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's ''

Frida ''Frida'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Julie Taymor which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Starring Salma Hayek in an Academy Award–nominated portrayal as K ...

''. She was a guest teacher at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

's 2014 Summerschool Den Haag program and a guest artist at the Oregon Ballet in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

Personal life

Makhateli is married to Artur Shesterikov, also a principal dancer with DNB. They have one son, Luka. When Makhateli was 40 weeks pregnant, a video was made of her balancing ''en pointe'' on one leg. This video was shared by American actress

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compa ...

Awards

Makhateli has received many awards for her dancing. *2020
''Dance Europe''
Critic's Choice Dancer of the Year Award. *2019, ''Dance Europe'' Critic's Choice, Outstanding performance by a female dancer, twice. *2019, ''

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

'', nomination. *2015, Alexandra Radius Award (Netherlands). *2011, Nina Ananiashvili & Gilbert Star Award (Georgia). *2002, Youth America Grand Prix (New York City, United States), finalist. *2002, Denver Ballet Guild's Young Dancers competition (United States), 1st. *2002,

Youth America Grand Prix Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world's largest non-profit international student ballet competition and scholarship program, open to dance students of all nationalities, 9–19 years old. YAGP annually conducts regional auditions in the Unit ...

(Denver, United States), 2nd. *2001, Chabukiani-Balanchine Festival of Ballet, Award. *2001, International Ballet Festival (Kazan, Russia), 'diplomat'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makhateli, Maia Ballerinas from Georgia (country) Dutch National Ballet principal dancers Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers Prima ballerinas 1980s births Living people Female dancers from Tbilisi People from Ketchum, Idaho Georgian emigrants to the United States Expatriates from Georgia (country) in England Expatriates from Georgia (country) in the Netherlands 21st-century ballet dancers