The Award is of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers
The management of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers awarded the Golden Lyre to Riolina Topalova for high artistic-creative and pedagogical achievements. The award was handed over to her on a ceremony at the National Palace of Culture.
Riolina Topalova – a director, choreographer, coach, coordinator and pedagogue – graduated from the State School of Choreography, after that she was appointed as ballerina at the Sofia Opera and Ballet, where she performed solo roles in the ballets “Sleeping Beauty”, ”Don Quixote”, “The Nutcracker”, “Romeo and Juliette”, “La dame aux camélias”. She has taken part in spectacles, concerts, seminars, competitions, in TV music broadcastings, in several film productions, with main role in the TV novel “Risk”. At the Sofia Opera and Ballet she produced the ballets “Rhapsody in Blue”, “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty” – for children, “La fille mal guardée”, the dances in the operas “La traviata”, “Eugene Onegin”, “Lakmé”, “Nabucco”, “Attila”, “Petya and the Wolf”, “Hänsel und Gretel”, “Shegobishko”, “Winnie-the-Pooh”.
Magister in “Ballet art – ballet directing and ballet pedagogy” from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, where since 2011 she has been Professor. Active PhD student at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts. Lector also at the National Academy of Music “Pancho Vladigerov” in History of modern ballet.
Professor at the National School for Dance Art. Since 2016 she is Artistic Director of the specialty Classical Dance. The same year she was invited by the Director of Art Garage – Centre for Choreography and Modern Stage Arts in Pozzuoli – Naples /Italy/ – Ema Cianki to lead master classes.
Member of the jury at International dance festivals and competitions, where she leads also master classes in classical, modern and characteristic dance. Part of the team of “America for Bulgaria”, “Sofia Dance Week”, “Slavic Way” and “Morning Star”.
She has worked with Pierre Lacotte, Irina Kolpakova, Yuri Grigorovich, Oleg Danovski, Dinna Bjorn, D. Pandurska, Sonia Alonso, Lorca Massine, Prof. Petar Lukanov, Acad. Plamen Kartaloff, Assoc. Prof. Biser Deyanov, Maya Shopova, Irene Schneider, Kathryn Posin, Suzanne Farrell, Prof. N. Trofimova, N. Tarasova, М. Abdulayeva, Prof. L. Draguleva, Assoc. Prof. P. Stoilova, Diana White, Kathryn Bennetts, Kipling Houston, Tom Gold, Andris Liepa.
