A native of Moldova, Igor Burlak studied at The School of American Ballet with Olga Kostritzky, Peter Boal, and Jock Soto. As a student of The School of American Ballet, he appeared with New York City Ballet. After completing his studies, Burlak performed with Miami City Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and was a soloist with Atlantic Southeast Ballet before becoming a principal with Minnesota Ballet, where he danced for six seasons. He has appeared in the films
Center Stage, George Balanchine’s
Nutcracker, and a documentary by Tomasol Digital called
The Waiting.
From 2003-2011, Burlak served as the program coordinator and faculty member at the New York State Summer School of the Arts. During the 2010-2011 season he was the company manager, ballet master, and director's assistant to Igor Zelensky for the Novosibirsk Ballet in Novosibirsk, Russia.
In 2008 and 2009, Burlak received the Fellowship Initiative Grant from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet, to support his work as a choreographer. Burlak has choreographed pieces for Minnesota Ballet’s Celebrity Dance Challenge, The School of Minnesota Ballet’s Student Performance, The School of American Ballet’s Choreography Workshop, Miami City Ballet's Our Show, and Concerto de Arangus for Kansas City Ballet.
Since joining Boston Ballet School in 2011, Burlak has developed the curriculum for male students from the Elementary 1 to Trainee levels. For Boston Ballet’s Next Generation, he presented several Pre-Professional Program levels and assisted Margaret Tracey with the staging of Raymonda Variations in 2012.
