The Iron Curtain had already collapsed when Maria Bakalova was growing up in Bulgaria, but old sensibilities still lingered: as a girl she was discouraged from playing the “aggressive and ...

Bakalova’s first path out was singing, and by age 11, she was traveling throughout Western Europe to competitions, much as Ivana Trump had gotten out via national ski teams. “In countries like ...

The Iron Curtain had already collapsed when Maria Bakalova was growing up in Bulgaria, but old sensibilities still lingered: as a girl she was discouraged from playing the “aggressive and ...