Victoria Jaiani

Born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, Victoria Jaiani began her training at the age of ten at V. Chabukiani Ballet School. She continued her studies in New York and in June 2003 was awarded a Bronze Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.

Since joining the Joffrey, she has danced leading roles in many ballets, including Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake (Odette-Odile), Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère (Nikia, Gamzati), Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella (Cinderella), Giselle (Giselle), John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote (Kitri), Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow (Henna Glawari), Lar Lubovitch’s Othello (Desdemona), and the Sugar Plum Fairy in Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker.

Jaiani originated the lead pas de deux in Edwaard Liang’s Age of Innocence and Woven Dreams; Possokhov’s Bells; Welch’s Son of Chamber Symphony; and James Kudelka’s Pretty BALLET. Other significant performances include George Balanchine’s Apollo (Terpsichore), Stravinsky Violin Concerto Aria II; Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain, Carousel (A Dance) (Julie); Wayne McGregor’s INFRA; Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land (Black pas) and Return to a Strange Land;  William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated; Possokhov’s RAkU; Jerome Robbins’s In the Night (3rd pas) and Ballerina in The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody); Justin Peck’s In Creases; Welch’s Maninyas; Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden, Dark Elegies, and Operetta Star in Offenbach in the Underworld; Lar Lubovitch’s …smile with my heart; Frederick Ashton’s Monotones II; Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow, Round of Angels, Reflections, Kettentanz, Birthday Variations, and Viva Vivaldi; Nicolas Blanc’s Evenfall; and Alexander Ekman’s Tulle.

In 2010, Jaiani was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine and was named “Chicagoan of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune Arts Critic. In 2012, Today’s Chicago Woman named her one of Chicago’s top women in the arts. In 2013, Chicago Magazine named her “best dancer.” Jaiani is married to Joffrey dancer Temur Suluashvili.