ILIANA BOZHANOVA

Bulgarian Folk Dances & Choreography

Iliana Hristova Bozhanova was born in 1961 in Galabovo, in the Stara Zagora region of Bulgaria. She grew up in a family of musicians and singers in South Thrace. In 1981, she graduated from the National School for Art Instructors in Plovdiv. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in "Bulgarian Folk Dances and Choreography" at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, the oldest folk arts academy in the Balkans and the most acclaimed in Bulgaria.  

At the age of fifteen, Iliana became a member of the folk dance Ensemble Rachenitsa in Plovdiv.Her experiences with the Ensemble, under Artistic Director Dimitar Doichinov, inspired Iliana to devote the major part of her life to Bulgarian folklore. Through the ensemble she had the opportunity to perform Bulgarian folk dances in other parts of Bulgaria, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Poland, Belgium, Portugal, France, Italy, Holland, and Russia. She met many wonderful people through this group, and it was here that she took her first steps as a dance teacher.

In 1981, Iliana became choreographer and artistic director of two children's folk dance ensembles – Ensemble Radost in the village of Yoakim Gruevo, and the Children’s Ensemble of the Roza Dimitrova Orphanage in Plovdiv. She created her first dance choreographies for these children and also introduced both groups at the Festival for Amateur Folk Art in Plovdiv.