Maria Berlova has authored two theatre history books, regularly publishes articles in that subject's most prestigious journals, and attends theater history conferences around the globe.
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She specializes in 18th century Swedish and European theater. The work requires considerable time probing through the world's most comprehensive libraries. One of her joys is in discovering little-known bits of history to support her ideas. Such details lurk, hidden away in letters, diaries, deeds, contracts, memoirs, and other antiquated manuscripts originally penned in disparate languages. To access this dynamic and rich, yet obscure source material, Maria has devoted herself to mastering Swedish, English, German, and French.
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Prior to acquiring two PhDs, winning awards, and becoming an internationally recognized scholar, Maria competed in ballet in her hometown of Moscow, Russia. She pursued the activity throughout childhood and its demanding rigor disciplined her mind/body toward perfecting grace and precision. The training galvanized in her a hunger for excellence and established a high personal standard that later would help her reach her academic goals.
From 1996-1998 Maria studied at the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington DC and afterward apprenticed at the Colorado Ballet until 2000.
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She earned her master’s degree at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS) in 2006. She defended her dissertation there in 2011. Simultaneous with working her way through the GITIS’ postgraduate program, she also pursued postgraduate studies at Stockholm University and was honored by it with a PhD in theater studies in 2013.
In Stockholm, 2011, the Friends of Drottningholms Slottsteater awarded Maria their prestigious grant, bestowed on her by the Swedish Crown Princess Victoria.
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Maria taught Western European theater history at GITIS from 2009-2016 and worked at the State Institute of Art Studies in Moscow from 2011-2022.
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Since 2017, Maria has been based in Washington, DC, where she's been utilizing resources at the Library of Congress to complete several new book projects.
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