Born in Sofia, Kristina Grigorova began her ballet studies at the school of Sofia National Opera and Ballet. At the age of 14 she moved to Italy and continued her ballet studies at the National Academy of Dance in Rome and with étoile and maître de ballet Margarita Trayanova. In addition to dance, Kristina also studied piano.
In 1982 Mrs. Grigorova joined the company of the Theater Opera Roma, where she performed as a soloist and prima ballerina in many ballets, including: "Spartacus", cor. L. Massine, "Ma Pavlova", cor. R. Petit, "Pas de Quatre", cor. A. Alonso, "Allegro Brillante", cor. G. Balanchine, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", cor. P. Lacotte, etc.
In 1987 Kristina was chosen for the photos and the cover of the dance book "Technique of Classical Dance", by F. Pappacena.
In 1988 she began to work with the world famous Aterballetto company, directed by A. Amodio, participating in various productions and tours in Argentina and Brazil.
In 1991 Mrs. Grigorova participated in the summer season of the Teatro Arena di Verona, dancing in the ballet "Romeo and Juliet", cor. Cranko with C. Fracci and G. Iancu.
Meanwhile, she continued to dance as a guest soloist in various companies such as: Italian Dance Company (directed by C. Fracci), Balletto di Roma (directed by F. Bartolomei and W. Zappolini), Art Dance (E. Terabust and G. Vantaggio), Ballet de Temps Moderns (with V. Derevianko), etc.
From 1991 to 1996 Kristina danced with the company of Teatro alla Scala di Milano and soloist roles in "The Nutcracker", cor. R. Nureyev, "Pilar of Fire", cor. A. Tudor, "Il Tricorno", cor. L. Massine, "Etudes", cor. Lander, "The Sleeping Beauty", "Don Quixote" and more. Also with Teatro alla Scala di Milano, she participated in numerous tours in Italy and abroad, including Japan, Egypt and other countries.
from 1996 to 2004 Mrs. Grigorova danced in the Opera and Ballet Theater in Florence - Maggiodanza, where she performed as soloist and principal dancer in numerous productions, incl. "Swan Lake" (cor. Bourmeister), "Magnetic fields" (P. Decina), "Four songs" (cor. R. Van Danzig, "Who cares", "Serenade", "Concerto Barocco",, "Divertimento N. 15", "Theme and Variation", "Agon", "Four Temperaments" and "Apollon musagete", "QXK" (cor. T. Martin), "chairman" and "Chamber symphony" (cor. L. Childs), "E. Onegin" (cor. Cranko), "Sleeping Beauty" (cor. A. Holmes and cor. G. Montero), "Tout satie" (cor. R. Petit), "The Rite of Spring" (cor. J. Nuemeyer), "Sylphide" (cor. A. Bournonville), "Carmen - suite" (cor. A. Alonso), "Don Quixote" of V. Derevianko and many more.Currently, Mrs. Grigorova is an international ballet teacher of classical ballet and repertoire, also a guest teacher in masterclasses, workshops, dance intensives, exhibitions and commissions for ballet examinations and also judges in international ballet competitions in Italy, Germany, Spain, Hawaii, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, England, Brazil, Finland, Portugal and more. In 2025 Kristina is joining our team of esteemed adjudicators for Dance Grand Prix Special.
Born on 22nd of April 2000 in Sofia, Margarita starts her professional training in 2011 at the National School of Dance Arts in Sofia with prof. L. Draguleva and later with F. Tcherneva, graduating in 2019 in the class of A. Tsolova. During her training she performs leading roles in Arlequinade, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Kermesse In Bruges teached by Dina Bjorn.
In the year of her graduation Mrs. Georgieva is invited to Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg to graduate in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in ballet pedagogy in the class of L. Komolova, M. Gribanova, N. Tarasova, V. Sirotin, N. Yananis. This makes her the first Bulgarian to ever graduate pedagogy in this prestigious academy. Margarita is currently persuing a masters program at Vaganova Academy.
Her stage career leads her to the Sofia Opera and Ballet, The Musical Theater Sofia and Arena Armeec. From 2019 to 2022 Margarita dances in the educational theater at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg. In 2018 takes part as dancer and speaker at TEDxVITOSHA.
As teacher, Margarita gives classes in classical ballet, character and historical dance in various prestigious academies, schools, incl. at the National School of Dance Arts, as well as numerous seminars, incl. Ballet Academy Mariyan, her own. She is a guest teacher at The Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera and assistant at Vaganova Academy.
Mrs. Georgieva has been awarded various prizes and in 2015 a full scholarship for education in Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle, USA.
She is often jury at numerous dance contests and festivals in Bulgaria and in Greece and in 2025 Margarita is joining our team of esteemed adjudicators for Dance Grand Prix Special.
Cristina Saso
Resident Teacher and Talent Scout of The European School of Ballet, Amsterdam
Born in Rome, Cristina Saso started her training in Rome. At fourteen years old, she was awarded by Carla Fracci a scholarship at the renowned Princess Grace Academy of Monte-Carlo directed by Marika Besobrasova. She continued her training at the Ballet School Heinz Bosl Stiftung with Konstanze Vernon in Munich.
Her professional career started at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the direction of Vladimir Vassiliev and she later joined the Teatro di San Carlo. During the nine years spent in Naples, she danced soloist and principal roles. Following a one-year season with the Tulsa Ballet in the USA, she got an offer to sign a lifelong contract with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Her repertoire included all the leads in classical ballets. She also danced a large repertoire of masters such as George Balanchine, Roland Petit, Alvin Ailey, Frederick Ashton, Martha Graham, Hans van Manen and José Limon.
From 2018 to 2020, she held the position of ballet mistress/assistant for most of the company’s productions of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
Cristina Saso is a Resident Teacher at European School of Ballet, Amsterdam directed by Jean-Yves Esquerre and Olivier Wecxsteen and has served as Talent Scout of the school since 2019. She travels to scout and teach master classes all over the world.
In 2025 Cristina Saso will take part in Dance Grand Prix Sofia Special Edition as teacher and jury.
Cristina Saso, Jury, Teacher
Paul Kay
Artistic Manager for Intensive Courses and Audition at The Royal Ballet School and International Guest Teacher
Born in Oxford, Paul Kay trained with Gaynor Walters in Devon and then at The Royal Ballet School, dancing the Flower Festival at Genzano pas de deux for his graduation, 2003. During his training he won medals at both Adeline Genée Award and Roseta Mauri Dance Competition.
He joined The Royal Ballet Company after graduation and was promoted to soloist in 2008. He danced principal and soloist roles in the company's repertoire over the following 19 years including Hans Peter/Nutcracker, Bronze Idol, Kolia, Jester (Cinderella), Blue Boy (les patineurs), Napoli and Chroma. He also created original roles in Wayne McGregor’s Infra, Woolf Works and Dante Project, Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice in Wonderland, A Winter’s Tale and DGV. As well as creating new work for Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Cathy Marston. Paul Kay was also nominated for Emerging Male Artist (Classical) at the Critics Circle Dance Awards.
Mr. Kay undertook his professional teacher training with The Royal Ballet School (PDTC) and has been a guest teacher for many vocational training programs as well as teaching masterclasses internationally. He is currently Head of Intensives and Talent Identification at The Royal Ballet School and frequently teaches at the school.
Paul Kay, Jury, Teacher
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