Galina Grigoryan-Mihaylova

Galina Grigoryan-Mihaylova was born in Bulgaria and trained in Sofia and at the former Swiss Professional Ballet School (now TaZ) in Zurich. After her training, she became a member of the Zurich Ballet and was later promoted to First Soloist. Under the direction of Heinz Spoerli she danced leading roles in numerous classics ("The Swan Lake" / Odette, "Don Quixotte" / Cupido, "The Nutcracker" / Marie) and new creations by Spoerli as well as in ballets by Forsythe, Kylián and Balanchine. Under the new direction of Christian Spuck, Galina danced in "Romeo and Juliet" (Nurse), "Leonce and Lena" (Rosetta) and "Anna Karenina" (Dolly), among others, as well as in numerous ballets by Nacho Duato, Auguste Bournonville, Twyla Tharpe, Jirí Bubeniček and Wayne McGregor, among others.

After dancing professionally in Zurich for several years, Galina transitioned into teaching ballet and barre classes for professionals and non-professionals and quickly fell in love with the intense physical and mental challenge this type of workout provides. Movement and musicality have been at the forefront of Galina's life since she was a young dancer, and they carried her through her teenager years as she pursued professional dance training. Galina is known for her professional attitude, high energy, full accountability, diligent, and focused style (Photos by Molly Zaidman).