Iskra Šukarova was a distinguished soloist at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet from 1991 to 2010, where she performed numerous solo roles as part of the MOB repertoire.
She specialized in contemporary dance at the National Superior Conservatory in Lyon, France, in 1993. In 2002, she completed her Master's studies at Laban Centre in London, United Kingdom.
Šukarova has participated in several significant workshops and professional training programs in contemporary dance with Susan Linke, Joe Alegado, Milli Bitterli, Mia Lawrence, Ivan Wolf, and Jennifer Lacey. She has also been involved in numerous international co-productions with Yoshiko Chuma (Japan), Bert Gstettner (Vienna), Ursula Eagly (USA), and others.
In 2003, she was invited to perform her solo piece Out of Tangent at the TanzTendenzen festival in Germany. She then performed at the 2nd Balkan Dance Platform in Bucharest, Romania, and in Fivizzano, Italy, where she was awarded the Golden Dolphin prize.
Her production Ouch-Couch (2005) was showcased at international festivals in Sarajevo (Theater Fest), Malmö (Dansstationen), Sofia (Red House), Belgrade (Dom Omladine), Durrës (International Festival), and Dublin (Contemporary Dance Festival), among others.
In 2009, Šukarova received an artistic residency from the eminent choreographer Josef Nadj at his choreographic center in Orléans, France, to create the piece Formula. Formula was presented at several international festivals, including Slovenia (Glej Theater), Italy (International Festival), France (Travers Festival), Croatia (Tjedan Suvremenog Plesa), Turkey (iDANS Festival), and Spain (Mes de Danza).
Šukarova has received several grants and artistic residencies, including DanceWeb in Vienna and Arts Link in New York.
She developed the curriculum for contemporary dance classes at the Ilija Nikolovski-Luj Music and Ballet School in 1994-1995, where she also taught during that period.
From 2002 to 2004, she was engaged as the artistic director of the ballet at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet.
Šukarova is one of the founders of the NGO Lokomotiva – Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture in 2003, where she serves as the artistic director of the contemporary dance program. She is also one of the founders of the Balkan Dance Network and the informal educational project Nomad Dance Academy.
Since 2010, Associate Professor Dr. Iskra Šukarova has been teaching in the Ballet Pedagogy program for Classical Ballet and Contemporary Dance at the Faculty of Music Arts (FMU).
