This blog is part two of a series about our time with Kira Noire and Evgeny Greshilov in July 2019. Here is the link to catch up on part 1, “Connecting Kira and Evgeny with Aradia Fitness Calgary“.

When I was deciding on who to bring to Aradia Fitness Calgary, there were a lot of things I needed to take into consideration. 

  1. What styles were most popular?
  2. What skills did we (the instructors) collectively need or want to work on?
  3. Which pole athletes (those who hadn’t been to Canada before) could bring the most value to students.  

All guest instructors we’ve brought to Calgary in previous years showcase amazing skills and are genuinely unbelievable instructors. However, some athletes seem unattainable because of all the red tape to get them into Canada. I wondered, “Should I take the risk and try to get it done?”. I decided it was worth the extensive hours of work and expense to achieve it. The pole athletes at the top of my list were Kira Noire and Evgeny Greshilov.

Kira started pole dancing in 2008, with no previous gymnastics or professional dance background, but her passion for pole was instant. After two years of practicing, she started to teach and compete in Russia, Europe, and then globally. In 2015, she partnered with Evgeny Greshilov in doubles competition. In 2017, the two of them started working with the biggest Russian Dance-Circus show at Leningrad Centre as pole artists. Kira now travels most of the year as a performer, judge, and instructor. Her awards include (but are not limited to): Winner of Pole Classic 2016 (Pole Expo), Ultimate Champion at IPC 2015 in doubles (Hong Kong), and Winner of Pole Art Cyprus 2014. 

Although her awards are impressive, what drew me to Kira was her dance ability and musicality. Exotic (Russian style) was something I was currently training in, and she is one of the best in the world. The technical aspects of it are difficult to master and, knowing our students loved this genre; I thought it was a no brainer. This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for students and instructors to receive some of the best instruction on musicality, lines, pointe work, and seamless movement, melting from one to the next. If she accepted the invitation to Calgary, I knew her workshops would be in high demand.

Evgeny is a world-famous athlete who has changed the vision of male pole dancing. He started his career as a pole athlete in 2010, becoming a Russian triple champion in less than one year. In the spring of 2011, Evgeny won the male category of the Aerial Pole International and, by the fall, achieved the title of World Champion at the World Pole Sport & Fitness Championship in Budapest, Hungary. He became the first Male World Pole Champion in history. He continued to amaze and excite the pole community by becoming a three-time World Pole Champion and a seven-time International Pole Champion (among other achievements). Evgeny is so precise in his instruction that I couldn’t resist bringing them both! He honestly can get anyone into anything. He is that talented. 

Evgeny is also the founder and co-owner of the online school Open Dance Academy. To add to his long list of talents, Evgeny is a pole videographer, and I had followed his work for several years.  

I took a leap and reached out to both Kira and Evgeny, in hopes they would respond to my request and accept the invitation to come to Calgary. Thankfully, the gamble paid off. Kira Noire and Evgeny Greshilov were coming to Calgary!

Also, a dream of mine was that one day we would have the fortune of having Evgeny shoot and produce a video for us. When we announced the video shoot to our instructors, they were ecstatic! They knew this was a once in a lifetime experience, and we couldn’t contain our excitement.

This was going to be an unforgettable experience! 

Demetra

Kira and Evgeny with their Calgary host Ari the puppy
Kira and Evgeny with their Calgary host Ari the puppy.