The prima ballerina Marta Petkova is the new Artistic director of the Sofia Opera Ballet. The news was announced by the Director Acad. Plamen Kartaloff at a press conference where he presented the highlights of the new artistic season in 2022/2023.
"I have promised her to be the number 1 ballerina, the theatre needs Marta Petkova, with her experience, discipline, confidence and perseverance in the face of difficulties", this is how Maestro Kartaloff motivated the decision the prima ballerina to take over the management of the ballet of the Sofia Opera.
Marta Petkova thanked for the trust shown. "It probably won't be easy, but I am an ambitious girl and I was welcomed by my colleagues with a huge respect, which I have always felt from them. The news was received absolutely wonderfully in our ballet collective," she shared.
In the last year the ballet of Sofia Opera was directed by the premier soloist Alexander Alexandrov, and before that during 13 years Artistic director was Sara-Nora Krysteva.
Photo: Agnes Metodieva
"I have always found my home and my family in the face of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Despite the many invitations to work in wonderful theatres, for me this is home, and I feel exceptionally happy with the people I work with and with the whole team of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. I know the expectations on me will be high. And I have great expectations of myself as a ballerina, and so I will approach this new venture. I keep dancing and it was never a question of leaving the stage," shared the talented artist.
"The repertoire of Sofia Opera and Ballet is exceptionally rich and we keep the best classical spectacles. By the end of the calendar year, you will have the possibility to see them all. There will be new things, there will be new surprises," said the prima ballerina.
Photo: Agnes Metodieva
"Since I was a child, I dreamed of dancing "Romeo and Juliet". It was my dream even before I entered the Ballet School. But since things do not happen so quickly, these are processes and negotiations, I will be happy in our theatre after years to have this title as well, because I think it is one of the leading ones", said the prima ballerina.
"Otherwise, all the titles like "Swan Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty", "Don Quixote" that I dance are a treasure for our theatre," added the exquisite Marta Petkova.
"The ballet of the Sofia Opera Ballet supports almost the entire world repertoire. This is not in every other theatre. We support a huge number of classical titles, and new and new faces come in. It is very important to think about the national personnel policy. To maintain such a repertoire with national forces is an exceptionally complex task, but we do it.
We think not only about the staffing of the theatre, but also about their growth and care for their continuous improvement. This is especially true for ballet dancers, whose creative life is much shorter on a stage. An opera artist sings even at the age of 40, there are such cases in the world opera practice", noted Acad. Plamen Kartaloff.
Photo: Agnes Metodieva
Marta Petkova was born in 1986 in Sofia. In 1995, she enrolled the State Choreographic School in the class of Rumyana Atanasova. In 1999, she was a finalist at the International Ballet Competitions in Tallinn-Estonia and in Luxembourg. In 2000, at the "Anastas Petrov"National Ballet Competition, she received the Grand Prix and the Special Prize of the Municipality of Dobrich.
In the same year, she appeared at the Varna International Ballet Competition, where she was awarded the Sylvia Ko Prize – Japan for Young Hope. From the same competition she received an offer for Kirov Academy – Washington to continue her education. In 2002, she was awarded the Grand Prix at the Fivizzano – Italy International Festival.
In the same year, she joined the troupe of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Already at the age of 16 she was engaged in the repertoire of the theatre.
Photo: Sofia Opera
In 2006, she was handed out an award from the Ministry of Culture for young talent. In 2007 she became a prima ballerina in the troupe and danced many parts among which:
Marie from “The Nutcracker”, Giselle and Myrtha from “Giselle”, Kitri and The Mistress from “Don Quixote”, Maria from “The Goat Horn”, Odette-Odile from “Swan Lake”, “Balanchine”, “Scheherazade”, “Forsythe”, “La Dame aux Camélias”, Nikiya and Gamzatti in “La Bayadère”, Aurora and the Lilac Fairy from “The Sleeping Beauty”, La Sylphide, Carmen, Medora in “Le Corsaire”, “Paquita”, “The Firebird”, “1001 Nights” and many others.
In 2011, she was handed out the Crystal Lyre Award for achievements in the ballet art and the ballet “Swan Lake”.
She took part at the Ballet Festival in the Kazan Kremlin, dedicated to Nureyev. She was guest-performer in the troupe in Palermo and Naples. She took part at the Stars of Ballet Festival, Donetsk – Ukraine.
he was guest-performer at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2018 with the ballet “Le Corsaire”.
With the troupe of the Sofia Opera, she was guest-performer at the at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2018 with the ballet “Le Corsaire” in the role of Medora. She was guest-performer at the seaside stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok with the roles of Giselle and Medora.
Photo: Sofia Opera
In Norway and Finland, she was invited to perform Nikiya from "La Bayadère" in Natalia Makarova's version, and in Magdeburg – Germany she was guest-performer in "Paquita". She was partner with the greatest ballet stars Kimin Kim, Vadim Muntagirov, Denis Rodkin and Svetlana Zakharova and many others.
In 2019 she was handed out a second Crystal Lyre Award for overall contribution in ballet art.
In 2022, she participated in the ballet gala spectacles of Roberto Bolle and friends in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The same year, she was invited to a tour at the Mariinsky Theatre, where she performed the role of Nurida in the spectacle "One Thousand and One Nights". She is the winner of the 2022 Metropolitan Municipality Award.