Born to a Bulgarian father and a French mother. He began dancing at the age of 10 with Roger Ritz. He returned to the Paris Opera School in 1953. Enlisted in the Corps of Ballet in 1957 , he was named Coryphée in 1957 Small Subject in 1959 Large Subject in 1960 First Dancer in 1962 (he passed his examination during his 21-month military service) First Star Dancer in 1964Son first role of Star will be that of the Young Man in the Damnation of Faust by Maurice Béjart and George Balanchine will choose him to dance Concerto Barocco . He also plays the ballets of Serge Lifar , Léonide Massine , Michel Descombey , Mac Millan , Georges Skibine , Ben Stevenson , Pierre Lacotte , Rudolf Noureev , Gene Kelly , John Cranko , John Tarras ,Yuri Grigorovitch … In 1965 he was awarded the Nijinsky Prize.
Noble dancer, of rare sensitivity , he is also at ease in the roles of Prince of the great classical repertoire as in the contemporary repertoire . Among its best roles and interpretations, we can remember above all:
Quasimodo , Frollo (at creation) in Notre-Dame de Paris/ Roland Petit
le Jeune Homme des Mirages/ Serge Lifar
Yvan le Terrible/ Yuri Grigorovitch lecomte Muffat in Nana/ Roland Petit
le sacre du Printemps/ Maurice Béjart
Abderam in Raymonda/ Rudolf Noureev
Its most famous partners are Yvette Chauviré , Alicia Alonso , Claude Bessy , Noèlla Pontois , Ekaterina Maximova , Liane Daydé , Josette Amiel , Jacqueline Rayet , Nora Esteves , Karen Kain, Georgina Parkins , Doreen Wells , Magdalena Popa, Florence Clerc , Elisabeth Platel , Monique Loudières , Marie- Claude Pietragala , Sylvie Guillem …
He takes part in tours of the Paris Opera around the world and is personally invited to dance in U.R.S.S , Hungary , Romania , Canada , Germany , England , Australia , Spain , Italy , South America , U.S.A , Japan ….
He was appointed a dance teacher at the C.N.S.M.D.P. in 1987. Patrick Dupond recalled him to the Opéra national de Paris as a ballet teacher in 1990. He participates in international juries such as Varna in Bulgaria, and is invited worldwide as a professor. He continued to dance notably the Coregidor in the Tricorne of Massine invited by Carla Fracci , Coppelius in Coppelia , the Witch in the Sylphide of Bournonville in Japan . He participates in the creation of Zorba the Greek in a choreography by Barry Collins with the ballet of Nice and Toulon .
He has just performed the role of Don Quixote in Brazil with the ballet of Rio in a choreography by Dalal Alhcar. He is made Knight of Arts and Letters .
Being on the stage and giving classes is his pleasure!
