Today we’d like to introduce you to Iaroslav and Liliia Bieliei.
Hi Iaroslav and Liliia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Our dream was always to make Ballroom Dancing more available to a general audience and involve as many people to see Ballroom Dancing as possible. During our active Professional Dance career, we have been actively brainstorming for the right format to make it happen. Being both from Kyiv, Ukraine, the recent War in our home country impacted us significantly as human beings on every level. This is how we got a strong motivation to promote diverse Ukrainian Culture and support Ukrainian People in our own way.
At some point, it all came to one idea of creating a Dance Show that will have a big Cultural Component. We have started to work on KOLO Dance Show since March 2022, but we can say we have been preparing for it for at least 20 years, when we were actively competing as ballroom dancers, traveling, teaching, and getting our education.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We truly are having a great time putting this show together as Executive Producers. The creative work and team we have are unbelievable. Of course, we do face various challenges. To market and brand, a brand new show is lots of hours of hard work, but the main challenge for us is the safety and logistics of our team in Ukraine, that works on the project. All our Visual Effects and Visual Art components are made in Ukraine.
During the war, there are temporary blackouts of electricity throughout the country because of Russian Missile attacks and it makes some of the work extremely difficult for us, nevertheless, we are committed to our Team in Ukraine. They are not only great professionals with high standards of work ethics but also people we really care about.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We have been ballroom dancing since we were 4 and 6 years old. We started in Kyiv, Ukraine, and had Professional Competitive Careers for 25 years. We have retired in Orlando, Florida at United States Dancesport Championships as former US National Professional Ballroom Champions.
We have traveled and competed at the most prestigious events in Europe, Asia, and North America. Achieved many titles in Junior, Youth, Adult, and Professional Categories and also became World Showdance Vice Champions. We have developed our own methodology of teaching and learning Ballroom Dancing called “Prism Method”. It helped us tremendously to achieve a great level of dancing and also our students to become World Champions in the Pro/Am Category.
Coming from a Dance background we see the World from a Dance perspective and it also helped us to connect with professionals from different industries and Art Forms. That is truly an invaluable experience that was given to us by our dance career. We see it as a great asset and always feel grateful for the opportunities and discipline that we gained from dancing.
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Not to be afraid in contacting people directly even when they might appear intimidating by having lots of achievements. Always make sure you can present your work or project within 2-3 minutes, in case you have the opportunity to talk to someone important for your future development.
It is really important to be surrounded by people who know a little bit more than you in their fields, as it gives you the enormous potential for overall growth.
Pricing:
- Tickets from $58
- to $166
Contact Info:
- Website: koloshow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kolodanceshow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kolodshow
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kolodanceshow
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kolodanceshow
