ELISA PETROVA LUKANOVA
In 1979, she began her ballet education at the State Choreographic School (now NUTI) in Sofia, where she studied until 1984 in the class of Prof. Lilyana Draguleva.
In 1984, she was accepted into the Leningrad State Choreographic School “A. Ya. Vaganova” – today “Academy of Russian Ballet A. Ya. Vaganova” – St. Petersburg, Russia, where she graduated in 1987 with secondary specialized education as an artist-ballerina in the class of Prof. I. A. Trofimova.
From 1988 to 2015, she was an artist-ballerina in the Sofia Opera and Ballet. She participated in the entire repertoire of the troupe in the corps de ballet. She also performed solo parts in Bulgaria and in all tours of the ballet company in Europe, Asia, the USA and South America.
In 1995, she graduated from the National Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” in Sofia with a Master’s degree in Ballet Pedagogy.
Since 2016, she has been an assistant at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts “Prof. Asen Diamandiev” in Plovdiv, where she teaches “Fundamentals of Classical Dance” and “Methodology of Teaching Classical Dance” at the Department of Choreography, majoring in “Ballet Pedagogy”.
In 2019, she defended her scientific degree “DOCTOR” in choreography and in 2022, her scientific degree “ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR” in choreography at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts “Prof. Asen Diamandiev” in Plovdiv.
From 2017 to 2025, she was a ballet teacher – choreographer of the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Team – Women’s Ensemble, who won the first Olympic gold medal in the history of Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics.
Master classes:
2010 – University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida, USA.
2015 – Mimar Sinan Fine Art University, Istanbul, Turkey.
2022, 2024 – Dokuz Eylul University State Conservatory, Adana, Turkey.
2022, 2023,2025 – Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey.
He has been a member and chairman of the international jury of various dance and ballet qualifications and competitions in Bulgaria and abroad.
