site.btaWorld Ballet Stars to Perform in Adolphe Adam's Giselle in Sofia

World ballet stars Maria Kochetkova and Michal Krcmar will perform in Adolphe Adam's Giselle here on January 12, the Sofia Opera and Ballet said. Krcmar will replace previously announced Daniil Simkin.

Maria Kochetkova was awarded a second-class distinction in the junior category at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2002, which kick-started her world career. This will be her second visit to Bulgaria. Kochetkova is a prima ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet, a guest artist with the Bolshoi Theatre and the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theatre and the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the American Ballet Theatre in New York, the Rome Opera, and the Tokyo Ballet. She has performed at some of the most prestigious ballet gala events around the world.

Since 2011. Michal Krcmar is the star of the Finnish National Ballet. Upon graduating, the Prague Conservatory assigned him leading roles in performances at the Prague Opera. His success in ballet competitions earned him numerous awards, which quickly led him to Helsinki. Thanks to his active involvement in international gala events and festivals in Japan, Cuba, China, Georgia, Colombia, Cambodia, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and nearly every European country, he was honoured with the Premio Capri Danza International in Italy in 2021 for his contributions to international ballet.

The performance of Giselle, which will celebrate the 70th anniversary of conductor Boris Spasov, will also feature Bulgarian artists Nikola Hadjitanev, Maria Yordanova, Vyara Ivancheva, Simeon Atanasov, Elena Petrova, and Pamela Pandova, among others.