Marta Petkova

Marta Petkova

Biography

Born on 14.01.1986 in Sofia. In 1995 she entered the State Choreographic School in the class of Rumiana Atanasova. In 1999 she was a finalist at the International Ballet Competitions in Tallinn-Estonia and Luxembourg. In 2000, at the "Anastas Petrov" National Ballet Competition, she was awarded the Grand Prize 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-Japan Prize for Young Hope. From the same competition she received an offer to Kirov Academy – Washington to continue her education. In 2002 she was awarded the Grand Prize at the Fivizziano – Italy International Festival.

In the same year he joined the company of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Already at the age of 16 she was involved in the repertoire of the theatre.

In 2006 she received an award from the Ministry of Culture for young talent. In 2007 she became a prima ballerina in the company and danced many roles including: Marie from "The Nutcracker", Giselle and Myrtha from "Giselle", Kitri and the Mistress from "Don Quixote", Maria from "The Goat's Horn", Odette-Odile from "Swan Lake". She performed in spectacles of Balanchine, Forsythe, Marguerite from "La dame aux camélias", Nykiya and Gamzatti in "La Bayadère", Aurora and Fairy Lilac in "The Sleeping Beauty", Sylphide in "La Sylphide", Carmen in "Carmen Suite", Medora in "Le Corsaire", Paquita in "Paquita", The Firebird in Stravinsky's ballet of the same name, Scheherazade and Nurida in "One Thousand and One Nights" and many others.

In 2011 she was awarded the Crystal Lyre Award for her achievements in ballet, especially for her roles in the ballet "Swan Lake".

She participated in the Kremlin and Kazan ballet festivals dedicated to Nureyev! She has been a guest artist with companies in Palermo and Naples. She took part in the festival in Saratov, "Stars of ballet", Donetsk, Ukraine.

She toured with the Sofia Opera Company to the Bolshoi Theatre in 2018 with the ballet "Le Corsaire" with the role of Medora. She was a guest on the seaside stage of the Marinsky Theatre in Vladivostok with the roles of Giselle and Medora.

In Norway, Oslo and Finland, Helsinki she was invited to play Nikiya from "La Bayadère" in Natalia Makarova's version, and in Magdeburg, Germany she toured in "Paquita". She has partnered with world stars Kim Kim, Vadim Muntagirov, Denis Rodkin and Svetlana Zakharova, among many others.

In 2019, she was awarded a second Crystal Lyre for her lifetime contribution to the art of ballet.

In 2022, she performed in the Roberto Bolle and Friends Ballet Gala performances in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The same year she was invited to tour to the Mariinski Theatre, where she performed the role of Nurida in the production of "One Thousand and One Nights".

Winner of the Sofia Municipality Award 2022.

From the new season 2022/23 of the Sofia Opera, Marta Petkova holds the position of Artistic Director of the Ballet.

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