Director of juggling school since 2010 and organizer of five juggling conventions.

Learn more about ILIA

• When did you become interested in your chosen field and private tutoring?

  I was introduced to juggling while studying at a theater studio. At that time, I was not very interested in juggling, I was more interested in physical theater, contemporary dance, experimental music. I started juggling as my main activity in 2010. At the same time, I opened a juggling school. For the first 5 years, I was interested in teaching a large number of people. So I reached the point where I gave a workshop alone for 100 people. During this time, my level of professionalism has grown, and I became interested in going not in breadth, teaching children and adults to juggle three balls, but in depth, teaching people complex tricks and combinations.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and perhaps the ones you like a little less).

  I have a whole list of workshops that I like to give at juggling conventions. These are different types of passing with a partner, multiplexes with clubs, body throws, siteswaps, etc. You can read more here:
  https://goo.su/1WPL
  When people learn to juggle, they tend to learn the correct technique. Some general tips exist, but there are often several ways to do the same movement. And I always show all possible options so that everyone chooses for themselves what they like best. For example, in club juggling, there are two basic grips. One is more convenient for catching 3 clubs in one hand. The second one is very convenient for multiplexes and Scissors style.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher who inspired you?

  My first guru was Stefan sing. He is engaged in a field called Organic Juggling. I took part in a week-long intensive course with him in 2011. Now I compare myself not to jugglers, but to teachers of juggling. I like Jay Gilligan as a man who has raised some of the greatest jugglers of our time. I also pay tribute to Yuri Pozdnyakov. His students set world records and make shows of the highest level. I would like to become an equally strong teacher.

• What qualities do you think are necessary to be a good teacher?

  First of all, you need empathy. The teacher should be attentive to his student, read his character, mood. You also need to understand the specifics of working with different ages. It is good if the teacher has a large arsenal of pedagogical tools, and can explain the same thing in ten different ways. It is also important to have a clear lesson structure and development system. All this will help to make the lesson more complete, lively and productive. And, of course, the teacher must be high experienced in the subject.

• Tell a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  Do you know what the first thing jugglers say to each other when they meet? Look-look! What's the second thing? Wait-wait! The third? it usually works!

• What difficulties or problems have you encountered or still encountered in the subject?

  To learn how to juggle well, you need to drop a lot. Many people give up when the trick doesn't work the first time. And the most difficult thing is to teach such people to stop being upset by the fact that the balls have fallen once again.

• Do you have a special passion? Is it learning as a whole, or an element of the subject, or something completely different?

  I am happy when it turns out to give something more than just a skill through juggling. Teach a person to think more extensively, give motivation for self-training, or just reload with a good mood for the whole day.

• What makes you super professional (besides answering the questions in this interview : - P)?

  I have accumulated information on a huge number of different juggling techniques. In each direction, I went deep enough to see the entire structure behind the individual tricks. Thanks to a wide arsenal of techniques and at the same time a deep understanding of the process, I stand out among other jugglers who are developed in only one direction.