Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sofia Tsanova grew up in a family of principal dancers, watching rehearsals and performances at The National Opera and Ballet Theatre. She started her ballet education at the age of five at the pre-professional school of Masha Ilieva and during her early dance education she participated in performances at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre. Sofia was later accepted into the National School of Dance Art, under the instruction of Katya Petrovska and Lyubov Fominih.
In 2001, Sofia’s dance journey took her to Seoul, South Korea, to study at the Sunhwa Arts School – Ballet Division under Vera Solovyeva and Nikolay Levitsky, where she also had the opportunity to dance and tour with the Universal Ballet Company, directed by Oleg Vinogradov and Julia Moon. In 2004 Sofia moved to the United States and joined The Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida, and later received scholarships to continue her studies at The New World School of the Arts and The Kirov Academy in D.C.
Sofia Tsanova began teaching the Vaganova method in 2010, in various studios in the DC metro area, including the Academy of Russian Ballet, The Washington School of Ballet, and guest teaching at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet. Over the past decade, Sofia has honed her skills as a ballet instructor and also has worked extensively as a movement and conditioning coach for rhythmic gymnasts at Gymnastics World VA, including members of the National Team and the Elite Squad who competed internationally.
Sofia is honored to be a faculty member at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the TWIGS program.
