By Vestnik Kavkaza
Choreographer Yeugeny Papunaishvili is 31 year old, but he has already graduated from Moscow Highway Institute, taught young people dancing in Moscow school “Gala Dance,” won the Moscow champion title in Latin style dances, won the Open Championship of Finland and got into finales of several Russian and international tournaments. Papunaishvili became famous due to the TV-show “Dances with Stars.”
- Please tell us how you found your lifework.
- I started dancing when I was five years old. Of course, at that age I could not yet perceive it and understand whether I like it or not, and my dear mother took me to my first choreography lesson. In addition to this, I started going in for football, because even when I was five years old I realized that I loved football and wanted to be the best player in the world. But I also liked the fact that in our dance class there were a lot of girls and probably two or three boys. We, of course, were in great demand, because the girls needed pairs, and this situation inspired me very much. For a while, this all coexisted - serious dance classes and playing football. As a child, I was ashamed that I was dancing, because at school, in addition to my unusual surname which I have always been proud of, I could not tell my classmates that I visited dance classes - at the time this could not be understood. So for a while I was upset, but when I was 12 years old, I made a conscious choice: I handed my boots and football uniform to our captain and immersed myself in dancing. There were tournaments every week, twice a week, in all countries and cities, there were a lot of victories, defeats, victories again. Without it, I just could not imagine my life.
- Please tell us about your roots.
- I have always been proud of my roots. My father was born in Batumi. Just recently, I have been there - in fact, until 1990, my parents went there every year for the summer. And the last time I was there was in 1990, and the break was almost 22 years. I recently visited Batumi - this is, of course, an incredibly beautiful city, I have a large number of relatives there whom I adore. I was there for three days, I was able to get only three days, but I could not eat, perhaps, for another week after the trip, because all the relatives cook brilliantly.
- What was your purpose for visiting Georgia? You performed there, didn't you?
- No, my brother and I just went to see our relatives in order to celebrate his birthday.
- Where can we see you in the near future?
- All my life I love teaching; I started teaching when I was 14 years old. I just like teaching people to dance. I have a wide experience, and I had a dream of opening my own school. Recently, it happened, I opened a school of dance in Moscow. I'd like to create a network of schools, not only in Moscow but also in other cities, perhaps even in other countries. It is a real joy to see happy people dancing, to see how their lives, priorities and moods change.
