13 february 2026 Enchanting Brilliance and Grace with the Ballet "Sleeping Beauty
For ballet fans, a new exciting encounter with the masterpiece "The Sleeping Beauty" to the brilliant music of P. I. Tchaikovsky and the impressive direction of Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov is coming. The enchanting spectacle will bring an atmosphere of fairy-tale charm, style, and class to the stage of the State Opera - Burgas on February 16 at 7:00 p.m. Visitors will witness the stage presentation of the famous magical tale, told through the means of the beautiful art of ballet, in an incredible combination of music, grace, exquisite costumes, and stunning sets. Grace, worship of the classical original source, high performing class, springing beaut,y and enchanting movements - in sync with the music and dramaturgy - the whole brilliant symbiosis will charge those attending the spectacle with a feeling of contact with the highest sample of art. The performers from the ballet troupe of the Burgas Opera with repetiteur Galina Kalcheva are expected to once again unleash their maximum capacity and perform with brilliance, mood, and confidence.
Visitors to the Opera hall on Monday will witness the stage performance of the magical fairy tale, told through the means of the incomparable beauty of ballet art, in an impressive combination of music, grace, exquisite costumes, and stunning sets.
The audience will see the charming Ilina Konstantinova in the role of Aurora. She successfully debuted in the role in November 2025 on the stage of the Opera, in partnership with the premier ballet dancer of the Sofia Opera and Ballet and the Burgas Opera, Emil Yordanov. The Burgas audience knows the beautiful young ballerina from her roles as Cinderella in the ballet of the same name to music by Sergei Prokofiev, directed by Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov, Gulnara - in "Le Corsaire" directed by Galina Kalcheva, Little Red Riding Hood - in the ballet of the same name, the Fairy - in "Thumbelina" - both productions directed by Maria Tabakova, in the large-scale project "Ballet at the Opera", as well as in other ballet performances of the Burgas Cultural Institute. On February 16, she again enters the image of Princess Aurora - enchanted by the evil fairy Carabosse, falls into a deep, long-term sleep, and is freed from her doom by Prince Desire. Ilina Konstantinova is the winner of the Burgas Municipality award for the best performing participant from Burgas in the International Ballet Competition "Sara-Nora Prima" 2025, and together with her stage partner, Patrick Gill, who did not participate in the competition program, performed brilliantly at the gala concert. Ilina Konstantinova is expected to perform with the characteristic airiness in building the image, ease in performing the complex technical elements, and personal charisma typical of her role.
The role of the Prince is played by the Japanese ballet dancer, who has been a member of the Burgas Opera for the second year, Haru Nakagawa. He was in the comic role of Said Pasha's Secretary in the ballet "Le Corsaire". In 2024, the talented ballet dancer from Japan successfully debuted in the role of the Nutcracker, in partnership with Ilina Konstantinova – as Masha, on the stage in Razgrad, after which he also danced in the performances in Razgrad, Shumen, and Burgas.
The choreography of "The Sleeping Beauty" is by Marius Petipa and Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov. The staging and directing work, the work of Professor Mehmedov, is impressive with its perfectionism in artistic terms and the creative flight of thought, transporting the audience to fabulous dimensions, where aesthetics and exquisite expressiveness prevail - of movements that embody ideological beauty. The sets, tailored to the requirements of such a scale of the unfolding of the action, are designed by the set designer Ivan Tokadzhiev, whose style is often described as close to that of Salvador Dali. The costume designer is Tsvetanka Petkova-Stoynova, who received the award of the Association of Choreographers for her creative work in "The Sleeping Beauty". The number of costumes in the production is over eighty. They are made entirely by hand, with the women's dresses being trimmed with thousands of Swarovski crystals, each one glued by hand to create the exquisite overall look of the fabulous stage costumes. Assistant directors of the production are Petar Tiholov and Lina Peeva.
Rehearsal of the ballet troupe of the State Opera – Burgas – Galina Kalcheva, who was on stage at the premiere, which took place on May 4, 2017, in the role of the Lilac Fairy. On stage on Tuesday, the role will be played by the elegant Frenchwoman Laia Ramon.
Bright, colorful, with an aristocratic shine, are all the images that will create the magic on the stage of the Burgas Opera on Tuesday evening. As Carabosse, the fairy who, through a spell, condemns Princess Aurora to a sleep without memory, Yana Berduta appears on stage. Impressive, in terms of technical performance, artistry, and synchronicity, will be the couple Julia Letsi and Daniel Tichkov, in the tandem "Blue Bird". Temperamental and bright will be Rafaela-Maria Küll as Little Red Riding Hood, and Kiril Filipov as the Wolf. Raya Chakarova and Teodor Tsakov will perform with charm and style in the etude "Puss in Boots".
Charming, enchanting, with a truly fairy-tale appearance, will be in the images of the other magical creatures.
The male presence in the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", filled with fairy tales, is no less colorful. The Cavaliers: Teodor Tsakov, Daniel Tichkov, Patrick Gill, and Kiril Filipov will be dignified and radiate aristocraticness. Maria Gabarova - Queen, and Nayden Naydenov - King Florestan will be regal and respectful, respectively, in the role of tender loving parents. Stoyan Furtunov will also be memorable in the characteristic comic role of the courtier Catalabut.
In the staged lavish fairy tale, told through the means of ballet art, the overall brilliance of the stage on February 16 is complemented by artists from the corps de ballet of the Burgas Opera. The retinue of Fairy Lilac will include: Andrea Sotirova, Kalina Nedelcheva, Bianca-Helen Giovanelil, Gergana Georgieva, Ivana Fialkovska, and Anna Pasello. As Little Maids of Honor: Kalina Nedelcheva, Rafaela-Maria Küll, Andrea Sotirova, and Anna Pasello, as Big Maids of Honor: Raya Chakarova, Gergana Georgieva, Bianca-Helen Giovanelli, and Polina Pasha. As Magic Nereids: Gergana Georgieva, Bianca-Helen Giovanelli, Polina Pasha, Gergana Kozarova, Andrea Sotirova, Kalina Nedelcheva, Raya Chakarova, Anna Pasello. In the elegant Mazurka, Bianca-Helen Giovanelli, Andrea Sotirova, Gergana Kozarova, Gergana Georgieva, Shun Cavafune and Patrick Gill will dance.
Graduates of the ballet classes of NUMSI "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" - Burgas will take part in the performance.
"The Sleeping Beauty" is a large-scale ballet project, impressive with the creative scope of the directorial decisions of Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov and its complete aesthetic appearance. The performance introduces the world of an enchanted princess, noble fairies, an evil witch with a heavy misfortune, a handsome prince with a kind and brave heart, magic, an extravaganza of colors, movements, emotions, and beautiful details, sculpting a true fairy-tale reality. The ballet was created based on the plot of one of the most popular fairy tales by Charles Perrault, the ingenious music, which has gained popularity, and as an independent sound of individual parts of the work, is by P. I. Tchaikovsky. "The Sleeping Beauty" is Tchaikovsky's longest ballet - its original duration is about four hours. In the interpretation of Prof. Hikmet Mehmedov, the final quadrille is preserved, in which the characters from Perrault's fairy tales dance - Puss in Boots, the Blue Bird, Little Red Riding Hoo,d and others.
On February 17 at 7:00 PM, the production of "The Sleeping Beauty" will be performed on the stage of the Stefan Kirov Drama Theater - Sliven.
Tickets for February 16 - at the Opéta box office, "Chasovnika" box office, after 6:30 PM on the day of the performance - at the Summer Theater box office, in Grabo - https://grabo.bg/burgas/balet-po-chaikovski-0g352f
and Eventim - https://www.eventim.bg/artist/drzhavna-opera-
.