site.btaFormer New York City Ballet Prima Ballerina to Teach Young Dancers in Sofia in May

Long-time New York City Ballet prima ballerina Kyra Nichols will teach young dancers in Iliev Dance Art Foundation's Dance It workshop, which will run from May 12-14 at the Arabesque Ballet Studio, the organizers said here on Wednesday. 

Nichols and Iliev Dance Art Foundation Director Petur Iliev will work with young dancers who are over 12 years of age with at least two years of ballet training experience. The workshop will also function as a scholarship competition for summer programs in the U.S. Some participants will get the opportunity to train with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Kansas City Ballet and Ballet Chicago this summer.

In addition to ballet and character dance classes, the programme includes a seminar aimed at arts managers, choreographers and other professionals working in the performing arts. It will take place on May 16 at the Hyperspace Social Tech Hub and will feature former Pennsylvania Ballet Executive Director David Gray, Kyra Nichols, Petur Iliev and Yana Traykova - founder and Executive Director of the Bfree Foundation, as well as project manager at the Iliev Dance Art Foundation.

Kyra Nichols joined the New York City Ballet in 1974. She was appointed prima ballerina in 1979 and retired in 2007. The American ballet dancer joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as a repetiteur, and in 2020 she was recruited as a professor in the music department of Indiana State University. In 2023, she was invited back to New York City Ballet as a rehearsal coach for three ballets for the company.