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Marina Nikolova

What is the attitude of the people here towards ballet? Are there any fans… 

 Greeks are crazy for ballet. I still cannot understand why, when you keep in mind that there aren’t good opportunities for realization. The Greek language has many words connected to ballet – for cloths, shoes. Their love for ballet has come over the way they express themselves. Maybe this can be explained with their history – the ancient Dance Goddess, Terpsichore. 

When you arrived in Greece, where did you start from, did you continue engaging in ballet? 

Initially I started working in a eurhythmics club. I trained future gymnasts for ballet. It was a good step because this allowed me to learn Greek better. With my husband we speak English at home. In my second year here I started teaching classical ballet in one of the best professional schools in Athens, something like an university, because the ballet-dancers training goes on for three years, after which they are tested in front of the Ministry of Culture committee. Based on their performance, they are given a diploma for a professional performer, and if the candidate wishes to become also a ballet teacher, the education continues for one more year, in other words – four full years. 

Can we find you on stage right now? 

No, right now I’m teaching and I set ballet plays with students from the school – this is actually their practicum. For those three years I have set up short versions of the shows “Chopiniana,” “La Bayadèr,” and “Don Quixote.” This year I’m preparing the “Cinderella” ballet, one wonderful ballet fairytale. 

It sounds very nice, but how do the ballet-dancers succeed professionally? 

In Athens there is one opera theatre with classical ballet and very little ballet plays. Most of them become teachers in ballet schools around the country. 

What is happening with contemporary ballet? 

There are dance groups, which get together for the performance of a project, which is the case with Dimitris Papaioannou’s “Medea.” He give an audition or does the project with known to him dancers, they perform ten plays and after that – “Goodbye.” The most important thing is to have the finances. Now, whatever Papaioannou decides to set up, he will find the means, because he became a name thanks to his great plays, which he did for the opening and closing of the Olympic Games. 

Is it easier for the professional dancers in Greece or in Bulgaria to succeed professionally? 

There are more opportunities in Bulgaria. The Sofia Opera and ballet house plays almost all basic classical performances. Besides that, there are many contemporary plays, which are often choreographed by famous people from foreign countries. Every week there is a ballet included in the opera program. Not even to mention that in almost every opera, there is also ballet as well. There is the musical theatre in Sofia as well – Operetata. A big name is also the ballet group “Arabesk,” whose repertoire is mainly the contemporary ballet. TV’s and theatres in the big Bulgarian cities also have their own ballet groups, not only that but also shows and advertising programs. When I was in Bulgaria, I often participated special events, fashion shows, etc and set up small ballet forms for advertisements. 

It is amazing that there are more possibilities in Bulgaria for dancer than here. Because it looks like there is a bigger and regular audience here. 

Yes, there is audience here but mainly when there is a foreign group performing. Of course, the advertising is great when people pay huge amounts of money for tickets. 

Have our dancers from the opera or other groups made performances in Athens? 

In 2001 a mixed group of singers and ballet dancers from the Sofia Opera danced to Jose Cura’s “Aida” in “The Music Hall” – one great tenor during the last few years. The same production has been played in the opera in Milano “La Scala.” They were so impressed by us that they invited us again with the ballet “Giselle” – it was the first time that a ballet play was shown in “The Music Hall.” The soloists were invited from the Russian ballet – Svetlana Zaharova, Diana Vishneva, Vladimir Malahov. It was crowded, they didn’t manage to satisfy everybody, so we came one more time. 

And in Bulgaria there is an audience not only for the celebrities.. 

Yes, to dance in Sofia is a responsibility because there is a regular audience, which knows the abilities of each performer. While in other countries, they don’t know you and they accept you as you are – you come in, get on stage… and dance. Nothing more. 

Don’t you miss dancing on stage? 

I dream of it very often, but the interesting thing is that, I don’t dance, but that I have some kind of problem with the play. For example, that I am in an unknown for me theatre and I have to get to the stage but get lost in the halls. The music is already on and I don’t manage to find the door to get on stage. 

Actually, how did you decide to become a ballerina? I guess that since you have been a little girl, as all young girls, something strongly attracted you and probably this wasn’t just putting on the pink dress… 

Very simple, from a very young age my mother and I visited all the ballet plays. I started dancing when I was four years old in different schools with very good instructors, so I didn’t have a problem getting into a ballet school. During all the nine years in ballet school, simultaneously I worked with one of the best Bulgarian ballerinas from the past – Valia Verbeva, now deceased, who gave up many ballet “secrets”. Not only did she study with Vaganova in Leningrad, but she has taken the best from the French schools. Later on, as a ballerina I had the pleasure to work with the famous Bulgarian ballerina Vera Kirova. For a very short time she managed to prepare me for the Ballet competition in Varna during 1994. from her I learned and mastered the “fine points in this art.” 

OK, but when you love ballet so much, how did you make the decision to stop? 

Circumstances decided it, not I. Actually I never left ballet. In my everyday work I keep on dancing with my students – everything I teach them, I show it to them – I dance. It is sad to sit behind stage and watch my students perform the annual plays we have been working on. But when I see the satisfaction of the audience, I’m satisfied too. 

Right now, you are probably inspired and motivated by different things. Tell me about your work in the ballet school, which is the best part of it all? 

In a professional school undoubtedly one of the most important things is the everyday effort. Most of all discipline and responsibility are required. But because you are asking me about the best part of the job, I can say that it is the annual concert on the American University stage in Athens – a very nice theatre with an excellent stage and technical possibilities. I don’t want to ignore also the great atmosphere in the school, the goodness and dedication of the administration and the owners of this ballet school. 

Which part is the one closest to you and is your character? 

My favourite ballet is “Giselle.” It is a very beautiful story about the power of love, which is stronger even than death. I didn’t get the chance to dance the whole play, because the role is for a prime ballerina, but as a participant in the International ballet competitions in Varna, I had the chance to play some of the most beautiful part of this ballet. During 1990 I played a variation from the first act and during 1994, one very beautiful pas de deux from the second act. The stage of the summer theatre in Varna was very beautiful. It was all covered in green and when it was getting darker everything looked as if it was real. 

Is there anything that you miss here in Greece? 

I feel good here – my family, my husband, my house. I can’t say that I don’t miss Bulgaria, especially my parents! I like going back and sitting with them as it was before. Of course, also going back to the Opera and seeing my colleagues.