April 29th - International Dance Day

Sukhum. April 29. Apsnypress. National dances is an integral part of the culture of Abkhazia. This month, the legendary ensemble "Sharatyn celebrates its 45th anniversary".

After graduation my father returned to Abkhazia and began working as a teacher in the" Cultural enlightenment ". In this school was first established dance ensemble of Abkhazia "Sharatyn." In 1968 he made his first tour concert in South Ossetia, and on April 9, 1970, at the request of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was the first official concert of the ensemble in the Abkhazian State Philharmonic", - said the son of Edward Bebiya - Ruslan Bebiya, artistic director of the ensemble and the main choreographer. 

Status of the state ensemble it received only in 1978

In the same year "Sharatyn" made a tour in the fifteen republics of the USSR, as well as Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, India, the Netherlands and France. The ensemble is the prize-winner of many international festivals. 

During the War of Abkhazia twelve members of the ensemble were killed. Three of them posthumously awarded the title "Hero of Abkhazia". Ensemble itself received the honorary title of "Order of Leon State Ensemble Sharatyn of E. Bebia".  

June 25 is my fiftieth anniversary and the thirtieth anniversary of my creative activities in "Sharatyn ", in connection with which the concert is scheduled for the end of June. The choice of date is not random, my fate and the fate of all the members of my family is inextricably linked with the ensemble: my mother, brother, wife, children, aunts and uncles danced in "Sharatyn"", - shared with a reporter of " Apsnypress " Ruslan Bebia.