Asen Gavrilov

Asen Gavrilov (; 10 June 1926 – 21 May 2006) was a Bulgarian ballet dancer and choreographer.

Biography Gavrilov was born in Sofia in 1926. He was born in the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. His father was a stage worker there, and as Gavrilov lived in a small apartment with three siblings and his parents, he often preferred to study and sleep at the theatre. He often watched rehearsals. In 1944, he enlisted as a German construction laborer to earn money, which marked him as a German soldier. Because of this, he was sent to the Bogdanovdol forced labor camp later that year after the Red Army entered Bulgaria.

In 1946, Gavrilov began ballet at the unusually late age of twenty years old. The National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria made use of the National Theater after theirs burned down, and Gavrilov became very fond of one of the ballerinas he watched rehearsing. In hopes of catching her attention, he went to the ballet master, , and asked to enroll in his school. Petrov found him naturally talented and accepted him as a student.

Gavrilov was most renowned for his role as Phoebe in La Esmeralda.

He received the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 1st class, in 1959, and the award of People's Artist in 1965 for his contributions to Bulgarian culture. He died on 21 May 2006.