Elena Gibson is a professional dancer

pole dance Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered on a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in strip club, gentleman's clubs as erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated da ...

choreographer, instructor and performer who has played a leading role in the development of pole dancing as an art form and sport across the world. She was the first World Pole Dancing Champion when crowned Miss Pole Dance World in 2005, before being controversially disqualified 24 hours later. She is the head of the Artistic committee of POSA world federation, the UK representative of the International Pole Federation (IPF), the European representative of the International Pole Fitness Federation (IPFF) and a member of the

International Dance Council The International Dance Council (CID, standing for French: ''Conseil International de la Danse'') is the umbrella organization for all forms of dance in the world. It is a non-profit international non-governmental organization founded in 1973 "u ...

(CID UNESCO).

Career

Elena trained in classical ballet at Canada's National Ballet School in Toronto from a young age, where she was awarded several years' full scholarship. She graduated from there in 1995 and began a career as a ballerina, first with The

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

and later with the

Bayerisches Staatsballett The Bavarian State Ballet (german: Bayerisches Staatsballett) is a professional ballet company in Munich, Germany. It was founded in 1988 by Konstanze Vernon as an independent company. The ballet had previously been part of the ''Bayerische Sta ...

(Bavarian State Ballet) in Germany, along the way winning the Professional Young Dancers Competition in Italy in 1996. In March 2000, she was seriously injured in a car accident which forced her retirement from professional ballet. It was while recovering from the accident that she discovered pole dancing as a way to regain fitness. This then inspired her new career as a performer and choreographer of modern dance routines in a style that fused the classical elegance of ballet with the gymnastic and acrobatic moves of pole dancing. In 2003 she moved to London United Kingdom and in 2005 she won Miss Pole Dance UK and then the inaugural Miss Pole Dance World, becoming the first ever World Pole Dancing Champion, with her Black Swan routine. She was later controversially disqualified from the World title because the removal of her tutu as she transformed from ballerina to pole dancer during her routine was deemed to constitute stripping (which was not allowed by the rules). In 2006, she founded London's Pole Dancing School and in 2017 she founded The London Studios in Italy (Milan) where she currently teaches. Her teaching has received widespread recognition. She was the UK's first Level 3 Pole Dancing Instructor (appointed by Pole Dance Community) and in 2012 the

International Pole Dance Fitness Association The International Pole Dance Fitness Association (IPDFA) promotes pole dancing as a form of fitness exercise. The organisation acts as a supervisory body for the sport and annually organizes the International Pole Championship (IPC). It has a datab ...

(IPDFA) named her Pole Dance Instructor of the Year. She has also appeared as a judge at numerous pole dance competitions across the world. Since 2006 she has also been a leading advocate in the development of pole dancing as an art form and as a sport, representing the UK on the IPF and working as a board member and European representative on the IPFF. She is also a board member of

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

's Pole Dance Working Party and their Choreographer's Committee.

Achievements

* Winner Miss Pole Dance UK 2005 * Winner Miss Pole Dance World 2005 * Winner Pole Dance Instructor of the Year 2012 by IPDFA

Qualifications

* Member of

* PDC Pioneer Award * Certified Ishta yoga instructor * Head of the Artistic committee of POSA Federation * UK representative board member of the International Pole Federation * European representative board member of the International Pole Fitness Federation * Member of the

International Dance Council
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References

External links

Elena Gibson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Elena English female dancers 1976 births Living people