Stanko Milov is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary artist, arts educator, and founder of the Global Organization for Arts & Leadership (GOAL), a mission-driven initiative empowering personal growth through the performing arts. His international career spans over three decades and countless performances, including 18 years as a professional principal dancer with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (1993–1999) and Pacific Northwest Ballet (1999–2011), where he also served on faculty. He gave thousands of performances for leading ballet companies before shifting his focus to producing, choreographing, directing, and developing educational programs for the stage and studio. Over the course of his performance career, he embodied more than 100 principal roles, including 28 of George Balanchine’s most iconic works, affirming his place among the most versatile and commanding artists of his generation. He also danced, originated roles, and collaborated with many of the world’s most sought-after choreographers, including Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Ulysses Dove, Glenn Tetley, and Hans van Manen.
Mr. Milov left PNBS in 2013 to focus on founding GOAL, which he officially established in February 2014. He currently serves as its executive director, directing, choreographing, and composing original musicals and full-length ballets including Aladdin, The Nutcracker Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, and Sprout Out—all featuring students from the program. He is also the composer of the solo piano album Heartfelt (2006) and the author of the poetry collection In-Between A Borrowed Breath: An Almanac of Life, a lyrical extension of his lifelong inquiry into movement, memory, and meaning.
As an educator and thought leader, he is known for developing interdisciplinary curricula that integrate dance, choreography, kinesiology, and injury prevention with leadership and 21st-century skill development. He has also led numerous national workshops, empowering young artists to become change-makers in their communities and beyond.
Mr. Milov graduated from the State Choreographic School in Sofia, Bulgaria after nine years of intensive classical training. He holds an A.T.A. in Business Technology, a B.F.A. in Dance and Choreography, an M.A. in Management and Leadership, and is currently completing doctoral studies in Ballet Pedagogy and Choreography, with a research focus on integrative and reflective approaches to holistic ballet education and personal development through the performing arts.
Before relocating to the United States from Bulgaria, Mr. Milov won the National Ballet Competition of Bulgaria, received full sponsorship from Philip Morris at the Prix de Lausanne, was honored with the Best Youngest Dancer and Partner Minoru Ochi Award at the Osaka International Ballet Competition, earned the Best Partner Award at the Varna International Ballet Competition, and was a finalist at the Paris International Ballet Competition. He was later awarded the Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship in 1997—selected as one of only two recipients (one male, one female) from over 300 professional dancers worldwide nominated by their artistic directors. Together, these milestones reflect the reach and resonance of his artistic and educational contributions, both on stage and in the studio.
