Most of his fans know Stanko Milov as the Prince in numerous Pacific Northwest Ballet productions. Often described as tall, dark and handsome, Milov has been a principal dancer with the company since 1999.
Now his admirers are discovering that his talents range far beyond the dance floor. A new CD featuring piano solo pieces played and composed by him was released by Butterfly Productions in March under the title "Heartfelt."
"The CD was inspired by my son, Alexander," said Milov. "When he was born, all the emotions that I had, I wanted somehow to translate into music. I wanted to write a little song for him, and that was the first piece."
Matthew Felton at Butterfly offered to help Milov record his pieces in the studio. They originally intended the CD to be a private gift for friends and family. However, as Milov came into the studio with more and more pieces, Felton asked him to consider making it into a commercial release.
Classically trained at State Choreographic School in Sofia, Bulgaria, Milov "studied classical piano as well as ballet since the age of 10. Until the last year at the school, which was all ballet, I did both. And piano was always relaxing to me," he said.
But it was ballet that brought Milov to the United States. After sending an audition tape through the American Embassy in Bulgaria to the Pittsburgh Ballet, Milov boarded a plane to take up a new life in America.
"I always wanted to come to the States," Milov recalled. "It was always a dream of mine. I had opportunities to dance in Japan - I was there for two months - and in Europe. But America is the greatest country because of the possibilities to reach the potential that you have. That was the place I wanted to be. I came here when I was 18 years old. I came here with a one-way ticket. Pure immigrant, first-generation American, that's me."
After dancing leading roles with the Pittsburgh Ballet as well as teaching in its school, Milov was offered a position as a principal dancer at PNB. Upon touring PNB's facilities and learning of Kent Stowell and Francia Russell's plans for the company, he felt that the job offer was an "amazing opportunity" he couldn't turn down.
Since then, he has danced many leading roles in Seattle, taught as a member of the PNB School faculty and choreographed three different works here.
Milov created "Eclipse" in 2003 for PNB School's Professional Division students and "Kodai (Ancient Times)" for the 2004 Choreographers Showcase. Both used his music.
But the most personal piece so far has been "Heartfelt," which premièred in the Choreographers Showcase in March 2006.
Set to three tracks from the CD, the ballet begins very simply with Milov composing at the piano, then sweeps away to three couples (danced at the Showcase by Lidsi Dec, Karel Curz, Kari Brunson, Kiyon Gaines, Laura Gilbreath and Milov), all conveying the emotions that Milov sought to capture in his music.
"When I sit at the piano, I just play what I feel. People ask me what this CD is about, and every song has a story that goes with it. Really," he said, "it is the soundtrack of my free time. The majority of it is something that I felt over this past year."
To choreograph the dance "Heartfelt" was another step in expressing those emotions. "Of course," said Milov, "there are many other pieces of music that I can relate to, but it has been a goal of mine to create a piece like this. I want to connect to the music, I want to connect to the dancers, I want to connect to the audience.
"With the choreography, I want to showcase the dancers. Also, as a choreographer, I want to push the dancers to the next step. As a dancer, you have a certain comfort zone, and as a choreographer you want to push the dancer a little beyond it. But it can't be just putting your ideas on the dancers - you have to mold it together as a unit. If you can get that to work, then the audience will get it."
Although he always appreciates the chance to choreograph and is delighted to share his work as a composer and piano player, Milov is ready to go on with his "regular job" of dancing and has no immediate plans for retirement.
Currently, he is in rehearsal to dance the Prince who awakens Sleeping Beauty in Tchaikovsky's classical ballet. Even though he left Bulgaria to get away from a constant routine of dancing only the classical Russian ballets, Milov has no qualms about dancing yet another Prince.
"I love the classical ballets. I don't necessarily think that old is bad or new is good, or the other way round. If something works, then it is good art. And I think of things as good art or bad art," he said. "When I approach a piece, it is at that level. You might use a different technique, because classical ballet is much more structured than modern, but you're still trying to provoke emotion."
With a "huge ballet" like "Sleeping Beauty," the Prince must satisfy the expectations of that audience, said Milov, and that can offer a different challenge than trying to evoke emotion in a modern piece, where it is just the dancer alone on a bare stage.
In "Sleeping Beauty," the stage is full of scenery and a multitude of other dancers in full costume, and there is an audience that comes full of expectations of what they will see. "Everyone knows the story," said Milov, "they've seen the Disney movie. And the ballet, like all the classical ballets, is very theatrical. As the Prince, you have to interact with all of those elements and make it work.
"Ballet in general is a challenge. The biggest challenge for me is to make the dance form, which is so unnatural for most humans, look natural. If I can get to that point, to make it look liquid, like a walk on the street or in a park, then the audience can relate to what I do. Then you have communication."
On the nights Milov is not dancing the Prince, he still will be at the performances, signing copies of his new CD. He's donating part of the purchase price of any copy of "Heartfelt" bought at McCaw Hall back to PNB.
"Piano has always been part of my life. I love music. I hope people enjoy the CD as much as I did making it," he said. "It is something very dear to my heart. That was why I decided to give back 50 percent of the price to PNB. Because it was something that I did for my passion, for the emotion within me."[[In-content Ad]]
