Risima Risimkin is one of the leading Macedonian choreographers and artistic director of Dance Fest Skopje, Skopje Dance Theater and Full-time professor PhD, at the State University "Goce Delchev" in Shtip, Macedonia, where she leads The Contemporary Dance Department.

She received her PhD in the University of “St. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje, Macedonia on the thesis: “Contemporary dance styles in 20 century – Europe” and her MA from the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, at the Academy for Music and Dance Art (AMTI) in the section for Choreography, Ballet Directing and Pedagogy and was awarded the title ballet master.

Risimkin is founder of the Interart Centre for Culture (1996), whose activities have helped the development of the Macedonian contemporary dance scene. In the season 2012/2013, she was working as Head choreographer of the State Ballet of Antalya, Turkey.

Risimkin is one of the most prolific contemporary Macedonian choreographers-an avant-garde representative in contemporary creation. She has actively represented Macedonia on the international contemporary dance scene with her own performances, which have received excellent reviews both in the country and abroad. Risimkin is the recipient of several awards, including the award for exceptional contribution to the development of culture in the Republic of Macedonia. In 2011 she was awarded as one of Top Ten Women – managers in Macedonia. With her work, Risimkin is in a constant movement in direction of development of contemporary dance in Macedonia.

Risimkin has made more than thirty authorial projects, which established her as one of the most fruitful Macedonian creators in the contemporary dance area. Risimkin has represented Macedonia as a choreographer in New York, USA; Beijing, Hangzhou & Quanzhou, China; The Hague, Amsterdam & Rotterdam, Netherlands; Aarhus, Denmark; Dusseldorf, Leipzig & Cologne, Germany; Belgrade, Serbia; Burgas, Bulgaria; Podgorica, Monte Negro; Thessaloniki, Greece – European Capitol of culture; Lisbon, Portugal – EXPO – National day of Macedonia; Niamey, Niger; Ljubljana, Slovenia etc. In 2010 she was guest choreographer in the National Ballet of Ljubljana, Slovenia; in 2012 she participated in the Culture Olympiad in London with the choreography for the play Henri, VI of National Theater Bitola, Macedonia, for the Globe to Globe program of Globe Theater. Her performance “Hope” made with National Ballet of Antalya, Turkey has excellent review in Dance Europe magazine. In 2015 and 2016 she was a part of the First (second) International Chinese Summer Camp for contemporary dance and has two different programs guest performance on “Meet in Beijing” festival in Beijing, China with Skopje Dance Theater.

In 2016 Risimkin has premiere “R.E.M. – A dream section” with Nine Contemporary Dance Company in Beijing, China. The same performance was on European tour in April 2017: in Dance Fest Skopje, Macedonia; Exodos Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia and De Nieuwe Regentes Theater in The Hague Netherlands. Risimkin has premiere of her new creation “Orlandina” for Slovenian contemporary dancer Rosana Hribar, in Ljubljana Dance Theater in Slovenia on 23 March, 2018. Her choreography “Cauldron” with Skopje Dance Theater was presented in Maritime Silk Road festival in Quanzhou, China in December 2017, in the program of Holland Dance Festival in February 2018 and on closing ceremony on Battery Dance Festival in New York on 18 August, 2018. Her piece “Existence - We are the Fancy people” was presented on International evening of the Festival of Beijing Dance Academy in Beijing in October 2018. Her performance “Identities” is invited to perform in “National theater de Chaillot” in Paris, France in 2021.

“In the history of dance, and indeed in the history of the theatre, every generation seems to have produced a handful of extraordinary entrepreneurial pioneers who not only have innovative ideas but have the determination and skills to bring those ideas and ambitions to fruition. In Macedonia at the moment there is one such woman, who is not only artistic director of Skopje Dance Academy and Skopje Dance Theatre, is a Professor of the University and holds the position of chief choreographer at State Opera and Ballet Theatre Antalya in Turkey, but has also set up the Annual Dance Fest Skopje, bringing companies from overseas to showcase their work. She is Risima Risimkin, and I was able to see the fruits of her various labours when I visited Skopje for the opening of this year’s Dance Festival.

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Using music by Beethoven, culminating in the Ode to Joy, Risimkin’s ballet depicts the struggle of the people to be free from “The Power”; interventions by Happiness, Beauty and Hope eventually help to infect The Power with Love, and everybody finds “the desired way.” Choreographically there is much of interest; some lyrical lifts and arresting patterns when dancers were massed on stage. Risimkin has a talent for putting together strands of small, linear steps, punctuated with a head movement or an arm position.”           

                                                                                       Amanda Jennings for Dance Europe, June 2013

  “… We classify Risima Risimkin's creative work in the Macedonian dance avant-garde, who has (sometimes even for the prize of fierce critics and denials) successfully changed our views related to dance.”

                  Sonja Zdravkova Dzeparoska – “The theatre on the Macedonian ground 20th century”

“A leading criteria for Risima Risimkin is the visual moment, because of which she creates effective, impressive images, which speak for her qualities as a director.. “

                                                                                                                 Emilia Dzipuniva, dance critic