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Dalia Rogova – Bulgaria’s hope in the Dance World Cup in Spain

Dalia Rogova
Photo: Dance World Cup

“Standing on stage in front of so many people, with everyone looking at you and listening to the Bulgarian anthem is just a bomb of emotions,” says Dalia Rogova, who is Bulgaria’s new hope for a gold medal at the Dance World Cup, which this year will be held in Burgos, Spain.

Dalia Rogova and Denislav Ivanov
The Bulgarian dancer is only 19 years old, but in 2023 she became third in the standings, and in the past 2024, in the Czech Republic, she was already a finalist with a silver medal for her solo performance and a gold medal for her duet dance with Denislav Ivanov. The couple won the hearts of the audience and the jury for a reason – Denislav is a world-famous dancer and choreographer, who won first prize in the same competition a few years ago, and Dalia trained in acrobatics, was engaged in acting and graduated from the National School of Dance Arts with honors, a scholarship and a large number of national and European awards behind her. 

Her professional path began in 2019, competing in the categories of jazz ballet, lyrical and modern ballet. Two years later, at the European Dance Star Championship she was already in first and fourth place in the modern dance category, first – in the jazz category and second – in lyrical ballet, and in 2023 she was honored in the Top 12 of the best dancers during the prestigious American competition YAGP in Paris. "I believe that dance can show the essence of a person. If you watch a person who dances and tells a story, you can understand it without saying a single word, and you can learn a lot about them without even knowing their name," Dalia Rogova believes.


The Bulgarian girl has worked with famous choreographers, such as Angelina Gavrilova from the ballet troupe "Arabesque" and Miloš Isailović (Serbia), about whom she shares:

"The story is very interesting. I was at a competition in Croatia and he was a jury member, and I performed a dance that was choreographed by Angelina Gavrilova. The next day, Miloš had organized a seminar. Shortly before the lesson started, he saw me and directly approached me. He asked me if I was Dalia Rogova, and after I answered in the affirmative, he said that my dance and performance were incredible. He asked me, of course, whose choreography it was and if I wanted him to come to Bulgaria and work together. At first, I was shocked, but at the same time I felt very excited. Naturally, I accepted, and thanks to my teacher - Maria Uzunova, who did everything in her power so I could train with him, he has been in Bulgaria for three years now and we work together."


Daliya says that acrobatics has taught her to withstand physical exertion, and acting helps her get into a role and convey through her dance everything she wants to express. Her performances impress both with her reenactment of feelings and emotions, and also with physical skills that often seem beyond human capabilities. It turns out that the reason for this is an anatomical feature that is not common.

"When I had to go to the doctor due to an injury, they diagnosed me with "loose joints" - that's what it's called. I can just pop my joints, turn my shoulders, etc. But for that I will thank my mother, who, even when I was a baby, without having any idea whether it was necessary, gave me all kinds of massages and stretched me. Otherwise, dancers call the center of the body the area from the hip bones to the shoulders. The center of this area is the stomach and that's where all the energy comes from. When I put in emotion, effort, tension, everything comes out of my stomach." 


Despite her many awards, the Bulgarian girl says that she never thinks about whether she will win, and even when she qualifies as a finalist, she never leaves the feeling that she could have done better. And about the moments when she is awarded, she shares:

"Standing on stage in front of so many people and everyone looking only at you, and listening to our anthem, is just a bomb of emotions. It's indescribable! You feel nervous, there's even a slight dose of awkwardness, but the happiness is so great that you just stand there, look around, and feel like crying."


Currently, Dalia is continuing her education in the bachelor's program "Ballet Pedagogy" at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Bulgaria's Plovdiv, teaching young children in a private school and at the same time preparing for the Dance World Cup in July in Spain.



Photos:  private archive, Dance World Cup

English publication: Rositsa Petkova


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