With a gala spectacle of Giselle the prima ballerina celebrated the jubileeSuch a benefit performance is hard to forget – after 25 years spent on stage with the same zeal and enchantment, but also with brilliance and mastery which are hard to be repeated the prima ballerina Vesa Tonova illuminated Sofia Opera and Ballet in Giselle. The overcrowded hall became electrified still before the spectacle’s beginning, when on an immense video screen the audience reminded itself of some of the greatest roles of the performer in Carmen, Don Quichotte, Coppélia, Elektra and Swan Lake. After that once again the magic of dance fascinated the audience with Vesa Tonova’s favourite title among her 27 roles so far. Together with her partners Emil Yordanov, Kiril Ivanov, Darina Bedeva, Ivanka Kasabova, Lora Boshnakova, Boryana Petrova, Georgi Banchev and the rest of the dancers the prima ballerina presented the next enchanting gift, connected with the magic of dance.

Giselle is among my favourite ballets. The role carries many messages about love and forgiveness, about purity and deceit, which are very topical also today, notwithstanding that this was the first classical ballet spectacle which formed our art as theatre musical genre”, said Tonova about this role of hers.

After the end of the spectacle the scene of faery on the stage was completed by many flowers and congratulations. One of the first who came to congratulate the prima ballerina was her 18 years old son Trendafil. Flowers and congratulation addresses she received from the Minister of Culture Dr. Peter Stoyanovich, from the ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in our country Нis Excellency Mr. Süleyman Gökçe, from the team of BTA, as well as from the prima ballerinas Krasimira Koldamova and Masha Ilieva. They were joined also by Prof. Peter Lukanov, Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov, Biser Deyanov and many colleagues of Vesa Tonova. The Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers Prof. Dr. Petya Bagovska awarded to the prima ballerina the insignia of honour “Crystal Necklace”.

The moving end of the gala came with the appearance on stage of the Director of Sofia Opera and Ballet Plamen Kartaloff and of the Deputy Director “Ballet Issues” Sara-Nora Krysteva. “One priestess flew away a quarter of a century ago from the temple of Terpsichore, in order to spread around the world the beauty of this art”, said in his greeting acad. Kartaloff before bestowing a honorary diploma on the occasion of 25 years creative activity of Vesa Tonova. She was surprised also with a portrait of hers painted by her great admirer Stanislava Dimitrova. The true culmination came when surrounded by her colleagues Vesa Tonova shared that here, among them, she was feeling herself most cosily, as if in her own family. “I was thinking to say many a thing about the colleagues, but I couldn’t. Much warmth exhaled from the audience, from the colleagues and from the management. This huge positive wave made me feel very happy”, shared the prima ballerina before setting out towards the next direction, the next title, the next challenge in a great career dedicated to the art of ballet.