Gergana Panova: Expert in Bulgarian Folk Dance

Gergana Panova is a renowned singer, performer, and choreographer who has significantly contributed to spreading awareness of Bulgarian music, dance, and culture across Europe, Asia, as well as North and South America. As a dedicated Bulgarian dance teacher, she practices, promotes, and teaches dance therapy, making the world a better place through the power of dance.

The still pictures (some shown at the bottom of this page) fail to capture the essence of Gergana. You truly need to experience dancing with her to feel the immense love and joy she shares.

Gergana has taught at various events in the US, including Stockton Folk Dance Camp, Mainewoods Dance Camp, Lyrids Folk Dance Festival, and the Laguna Festival.

Here is what Stockton Folk Dance Camp has to say about her:

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Gergana graduated from the National High School for Dance in Sofia, the Academy for Music and Dance Pedagogy in Plovdiv, and the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen. She completed her D.Sc. in cultural philosophy and communicative sciences with special awards in Germany and obtained a Habilitation in ethnomusicology from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS).

From 1988 to 1994, she was a choreographer and solo dancer with the National Ensemble of Bulgaria “Philip Koutev,” during which time she also worked with children and youth in stage performances and established dance therapy for children in Sofia. Additionally, she co-founded the Theater Department of the New Bulgarian University and continues to collaborate with Theatre Total in Bochum, Germany.

Gergana has devoted herself to researching folk dance traditions. For 23 years, she directed the Dance Archive and the Ethnochoreology Department at the Institute for Art Studies at BAS in Sofia. Currently, she serves as a professor for International Dances at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany, while remaining an active member of BAS.

With over 70 published articles and two books on various aspects of Bulgarian traditional dance, ethnology, and non-verbal communication, Gergana has lectured at numerous universities in Europe, Asia, and both North and South America. She has initiated theater and dance therapy projects in various European countries, leads dance courses for refugees and locals in Germany, and has conducted over 300 Bulgarian and international folk dance workshops worldwide.

Trained as a folk dance pedagogue, stage performer, director, contemporary dance choreographer, ethnologist, Laban notator, cultural anthropologist, philosopher, and expert in intercultural communication, Gergana's special interests include the opportunities and challenges faced by contemporary multicultural societies. These subjects were the focus of her Fulbright research and teaching project on dance at UCLA in 2016.

Since April 2022, she has been working in the strategic oversight of the new State Program for Management of Communal Integration in Oberhausen, Germany.

Gergana visited Stockton Folk Dance Camp in 2016 during her Fulbright project with UCLA and served as a faculty member in 2019 and in 2021 (the winter edition).