Asen Gavrilov (; 10 June 1926 – 21 May 2006) was a Bulgarian ballet dancer and choreographer. Gavrilov was born in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

in 1926. He was born in the

Ivan Vazov National Theatre The Ivan Vazov National Theatre (, ') is Bulgaria's national theatre, as well as the oldest and most authoritative theatre in the country and one of the important landmarks of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is located in the centre of the c ...

. His father was a stage worker there, and as Gavrilov lived in a small apartment with three siblings and his parents, he often preferred to study and sleep at the theatre. He often watched rehearsals. In 1944, he enlisted as a German construction laborer to earn money, which marked him as a German soldier. Because of this, he was sent to the Bogdanovdol forced labor camp later that year after the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

entered Bulgaria. In 1946, Gavrilov began ballet at the unusually late age of twenty years old. The National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria made use of the National Theater after theirs burned down, and Gavrilov became very fond of one of the ballerinas he watched rehearsing. In hopes of catching her attention, he went to the ballet master, , and asked to enroll in his school. Petrov found him naturally talented and accepted him as a student. He danced his first role in 1947, Vaslav from The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. In 1948, he was offered his first main role as Albert in

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

, and after his performance, he was appointed first soloist. In 1950, he was sent to study ballet further in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and at the end of his studies, he played Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty at the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

. He was invited to remain there as a soloist but decided to return to Bulgaria. In 1951, he was one of several soloists for a staging of

The Red Poppy ''The Red Poppy'' () or sometimes ''The Red Flower'' () is a ballet in three acts and eight tableaux with an apotheosis, with a score written by Reinhold Glière and libretto by Mikhail Kurilko. This ballet was created in 1927 as the first Sovie ...

by the National Opera and Ballet in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. One of the other soloists, Zhivko Bisserov, attempted to escape to

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

but was caught and expelled from the National Opera and Ballet. Gavrilov was told to learn his role but protested on behalf of Bisserov, who was then able to continue dancing at the Varna Opera. However, Gavrilov was once against sent to Leningrad. He returned to Bulgaria in 1952. After his return, he continued dancing and also began working as a ballet master, choreographer, and teacher; for example, he played a main role in and later staged the ballet "Haidouk Song" by

Alexander Raichev Alexander Raichev () (11 April 1922 – 28 October 2003) was a Bulgarian music educator and composer. Raichev was born in Lom, Bulgaria, and studied with Pancho Vladigerov at the State Musical Academy in Sofia where he graduated in 1947. He t ...

. Gavrilov was most renowned for his role as Phoebe in La Esmeralda. He received the

Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius The Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius is an award conferred by the Republic of Bulgaria. History It has had three incarnations : * first on 18 May 1909 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria (named Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-apostles), ...

, 1st class, in 1959, and the award of

People's Artist People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the U ...

in 1965 for his contributions to Bulgarian culture. He died on 21 May 2006.

References

External links

Remembrance of Asen Gavrilov
from

Bulgarian National Radio Bulgarian National Radio (, ''Bǎlgarsko nacionalno radio''; abbreviated to БНР, BNR) is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organisation. It operates two national channels and nine regional channels, as well as an international service ( R ...

(in Bulgarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gavrilov, Asen Bulgarian choreographers 1926 births 2006 deaths Bulgarian male ballet dancers