Biography
Kaloyan Boyadjiev was born in Sofia in 1977 and received his ballet training at the National Ballet School in his hometown. He began his professional career in 1995 with the State Theatre Ballet in Pretoria, South Africa, where he danced as a principal soloist until 2000. From 2000 to 2002, he was a soloist with the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia.
In 2002, Boyadjiev joined the Norwegian National Ballet as a principal dancer, performing with the company until 2019. In 2015, Artistic Director Ingrid Lorentzen appointed him Director of Norwegian National Ballet 2, a position he held until 2018. Since 2019, he has served as Ballet Master of the Norwegian National Ballet's main company.
Throughout his career, Boyadjiev has performed numerous soloist and leading roles from the classical ballet repertoire. He has worked with renowned choreographers including Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Paul Lightfoot, Sol León, Glen Tetley, John Neumeier, Lar Lubovitch, David Dawson, Christopher Wheeldon, Ben Stevenson and Rudi van Dantzig.
His achievements as a dancer have earned him numerous awards and distinctions. In 1994, he was a finalist at the International Ballet Competition in Paris. In 1997, he received the award for Best Contemporary Dancer at the Ballet Competition in Pretoria, followed by the Vita Award for Ballet in South Africa in 1998 and 1999. In 2001, he was nominated for the Crystal Lyre Award in Sofia.
Boyadjiev has also received international recognition for his choreographic work. In 2019, he was among the prizewinners of the Pretty Creative International Choreographic Competition in Portland, USA. In 2022, he won the Grand Prix at the Emergent Choreographic Competition in Biarritz. His choreography for »Der Nussknacker« earned him a nomination for Best Premiere in 2016 by the British dance magazine Dancing Times.
