| TBILISI, Georgia, 8 December 2005 – Nine lithe ballerinas rushed into their old school, jumping up and down and gushing: "Oh my God! I can't believe it! Our school!" Two years ago, they had been forced out of crumbling premises. Now they were back for a sneak preview of a building renovated top-to-bottom. The ballet school, founded in 1956, was named after Vakhtan Chabukiani, a Georgian dancer who was one of the Soviet Union’s stars in the 1950s and 1960s and became the school’s first art director. The school was one of 23 selected by Georgia’s Social Investment Fund for emergency renovation work following Tbilisi’s 2002 earthquake. The ballet school, now directed by a prima ballerina from Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, made it on this shortlist of needy schools because of its unique status and long heritage. According to David Tabukashvili, one of the school’s deputy directors, their century-old building needed a facelift even before tremors shook the city one late evening in April 2002. “But after the earthquake, all the stairs in the school were crumbling and the walls were cracked,” he said. “The parquet floor was so damaged that the children could barely dance.” One young ballerina concurred: “We couldn’t even jump during our lessons because the whole building would shake.” Construction work was overseen by Georgia’s Social Investment Fund under a USD 5 million Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation loan extended by the World Bank. The Fund, an institution partially financed by the World Bank which supports small community-based infrastructure projects and social services in poor neighborhoods, spent roughly USD 330,000 renovating the ballet school.  | During Renovation |
Its architects fixed foundation problems, replaced a dangerous staircase, put in a new roof, corseted the building with imposing metal beams and installed brand-new electrical wiring and canalizations. Responding to the school managers’ wish-list, they added amenities that were sorely missing in the past such as decent showers, toilets and changing rooms. "We never used to shower after classes,” said a young ballerina, “because there was only one shower in the whole school and the changing room was stuck underneath the stairs. Although we were all wet and sweaty, none of us was brave enough to shower. Everything was small, uncomfortable and dirty.” The new toilets also brought cries of admiration and descriptions of past tortures.  | After renovation |
Getting ready for a few minutes of dance practice in the new dance studios, the girls could not hide their happiness, laughing and chatting non-stop: "We are the first to change in this wonderful room!" They then grabbed paper towels and set about removing construction dust from a dance studio’s new mirrors. A lot of attention was devoted to these studios, which architects increased both in size and number by joining three small classrooms and shrinking the director’s office. In addition, the Fund bought special linoleum from Switzerland for the studios’ floors. "How can we now return to our temporary shelter?” some of the girls mumbled. "We can't wait until February comes.” One pupil added proudly: “Now I can say I attend a school where any ballerina would be delighted to dance."
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