Faculty, Lower Division Faculty, Pre-Ballet Faculty, Upper Division Faculty
Svetlana V. Nikoloff holds an equivalent of MFA degree in ballet pedagogy Vaganova methodology and choreography from the South-West University “Neofit Rilski” in her native Bulgaria, EU. Svetlana danced professionally at the Varna Opera Theater gaining valuable experience in the major ballets from the classical ballet repertoire prior to graduating summa cum laude from collage with a teaching and choreography degree. Ms. Nikolloff started ballet training and rhythmic gymnastics studies at the age of 7 in her hometown Varna – the place of the world’s oldest and most prestigious Varna International Ballet Competition. This provided her with the privilege to observe from a young age and to be inspired by exquisite ballet dancers like Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sylvie Guillem, Aurelie Dupont and more. Among Svetlana’s ballet mentors were Russian ballerina Galina Yordanova, honorary professor in Vaganova ballet technique Kalina Bogoeva, professor Anelia Yaneva – pupil of renowned Vera Kostrovitskaya, Danish ballerina and master teacher Dinna Bjorn, people’s artist of USSR Nikita Dolgushin among others.
Upon her move to the US Svetlana worked extensively with children of all ages, as well as adults establishing her name as innovator in the ballet methodology as she proved time and time again her success in training students by fusing the esthetics and rigorous training of the Vaganova style with motivational techniques to inspire ballet students to expand their artistic potential by finding their signature individual voices in the art of ballet and dance in general. In 2004 Svetlana became a founder of Adagio Ballet School of Dance in Arlington, VA and run successfully the organization until the Pandemic in 2019. In 2024 Svetlana expanded her professional knowledge by adding a certification in choreography from the ICONS Institute in Washington, DC as well as assisting the jury at the International Ballet Competition Sara-Nora Prima (Burgas, Bulgaria) in July ‘24. Ms. Nikoloff is honored to be starting the new 2024/2025 season with the Washington School of Ballet where she can utilize her range of expertise to inspire TWSB students to do their best.
