Category: 2015 Judges

Li opened the first pole fitness studio in Ottawa 2008 – Ottawa Pole Fitness Inc. the trend grew quickly throughout the city. She enjoys the artistic aspect and loves the combination of fitness and creativity of pole dancing. Through her own experience of learning, training and teaching pole dancing, she believes that pole fitness is for everyone regardless of age, gender or background. Li brings strength, flexibility and grace into her teaching. Her biggest joy lies in empowering women through the beauty, strength and seductive art of pole dancing. Li is also a certified Yoga teacher and advanced practitioner.

Michelle Cirullo is the owner and main instructor at Pink Fitness in Moncton. This will be her 4th experience judging a CPFA sanctioned event, and is very honored to be selected for the National judging panel.
She discovered pole fitness in 2008 while living in Orlando, Florida. Shortly there after she was exposed to the world of aerial arts and trained in hoop and silks with Anti-Gravity. She began teaching pole classes in 2009 where she emphasized form and safety and continues to do so with her students. She moved back to Canada in May 2010. She knew she could not live without these amazing aerial arts in her life and opened Pink in 2011.

Friendships and confidence building is the reason why she believes pole fitness is so popular and addictive. With no previous training in any form of dance or gymnastics, she wants to serve as inspiration that even pass the age of 30, that passion and determination will make you the dancer you want to be.

From the age of 3, Tia has loved music and movement. As a child she was trained extensively in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical,  acro and hip hop. She has competed in dance all across North America winning various awards and titles. Later  in life she found Brass Vixens and started taking pole dancing classes. Instantly she fell in love. After pole dancing for only one year, she was the first place champion in the amateur division at the 2014 Canadian Pole Fitness Championship in Hamilton, Ontario. Tia also won second runner up competiting in the semipro division in 2015 at and first place, for a group piece she had choreographed at The Great White North Pole Competition. Tia has been featured in music videos for Rich Kidd, The Jefferey Brothers and Gary Padrino. On top of her love of performing, she also lives for teaching. She hosts workshops such as “Erotic Pole” and “Erotic Chair”, which have been great success’. Tia has continued to pursue her dance and pole dance training by taking classes in Toronto, New York and Barcelona. She is excited to be teaching at the Pole Haus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this September and also train with some of their great instructors. Tia’s goal is to train, teach, perform and inspire.

Dani Lee started pole dancing in 2009 at Brass Bombshells with no prior dance or gymnastics experience. Like many others, she was curious about pole dancing lessons when she was handed a flyer at her previous job and decided to enroll in the alternative fitness classes. She very quickly fell in love with the art of pole dancing and signed up for as many classes as she could and a short year later she became an instructor at the studio.

Athletic roots were planted at a young age when her mom enrolled her into swimming lessons at the local recreation centre and later into the world of competitive swimming. Dani lived to swim, it was her passion. After the years at the club, she pursued various fields of work – never feeling like she quite found her calling. Missing her athletic lifestyle she joined a gym but never fully enjoyed her time there. Pole dancing, in this case, filled this void and helped Dani reach new heights in shaping a career. The technical and tactical skills she developed from her training years at the Hamilton Aquatic Club are the heart of her teaching style.

Dani graduated with honours from Mohawk College’s Health, Wellness and Fitness program in May 2013, where many of the standards and principles she learned while studying at the college are applied in many of her classes and workshops today.  She has recently completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and is excited to explore and teach another form of movement.

Dani holds the titles of 2012 – Amateur Division – Canadian Pole Fitness Champion and 2013 – Semi-Pro Division – Canadian Pole Fitness Champion.

Mary Ellyn Weissman opened the first studio in the Chicago area, Empowerment Through Exotic Dance, Ltd., in 2005. She is also the organizer of the North American Pole Dance Championshipsâ and Convention, which began as the Midwest Pole Dance Competition in 2011 and is the organizer of Dance Wicked For A Week pole camp held bi-annually in Jamaica since 2009.

She was certified as a Master-Level Pole Dance Instructor through Pole Fitness Studios in 2006, and a group exercise instructor though AFAA in 2007. She then developed the first pole dance instructor certification program offered in the Midwest, which is sanctioned by the Pole Dance Community and the Pole Fitness Association.
She joined the Pole Dance Community as one of the first US studio/instructor members in 2009 and became the US Ambassador when the PDC was launched in the US in 2010. She continues to work with the PDC on international grading of students and instructors as well as promoting and developing criteria and guidelines, and the pole dance terminology committee.

In 2014 she joined the Liquid Motion instructor team and now also travels teaching workshops at studios and conventions.
Mary Ellyn continues to travel and consult, judging several competitions annually and is working with various groups on industry standards within the US, standardized terminology internationally, and consulting in the development of competition guidelines with other organizations.

Aryn began her active life in many types of competitive athletics.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in  Exercise Physiology from Western Washington University and began her 15+ year career in fitness, instructing group fitness and personal training.  She also earned her certification through the American College of Sports Medicine.

Aryn began pole in 2007.  Her background and years of experience lead her to create a program that was safe, learnable, and challenging.  She began The Goddess Movement in Abbotsford, BC with a passion for helping women create a strong sense of self while connecting with other women.  Aryn has personally trained and qualified many instructors and thousands of clients through her pole fitness program and has a huge passion for the safety, accessibility, and growth of the sport.

Aryn was selected in 2012 to be one of the founding board members for the Canadian Pole Fitness Association (CPFA).  She is working alongside 3 other board members to bring a standard of safety to pole classes in Canada.  Aryn’s work through the CPFA will help grow the sport in Canada through sanctioned competitions, resources for booking touring pole athletes and the creation of community events across Canada to unite pole studios and educate the general population on the sport and art of pole.

Aryn competed in bodybuilding in the early 2000’s giving her great experience in being on stage and understanding the judging process.  She was invited to sit on the panel of judges for Miss Pole Dance Canada and in 2010 was honored to be named head judge for the Canadian national pole competitions for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.  Aryn has judged at the North American Pole Dance Championships and led workshops at the Great Canadian Pole Expo and at the North American Pole Dance Convention.

Aryn has been a professional pole performer for 5 years.  She was cast in in the sci-fi t.v. show “Caprica” as a cameo pole performer and has been hired by the Inner Ring Professional Circus for numerous public professional pole performances including Smirnoff’s Party Exchange and Whistler’s annual food and wine event, Cornucopia.  Aryn creates and directs Vertical Theatre a 2-hour aerial arts show made up of performers who are students of the arts as well as professional circus performers, including Jenyne Butterfly.  Vertical Theatre is in it’s 5th year of production and generates $13,000 annually.

Aryn has coached numerous medal winning Canadian pole athletes through the past 5 years and students travel fro near and far to gain her expertise and unique coaching style to help develop individual pole skills as well as full competition and performance routines.

Aryn and her studio were both nominated for IPDFA’s Instructor of the Year and Studio of the Year awards for 2013.