Our Instructors

Imke is South Pole Studios’ first homegrown instructor, a born teacher and performer. Having started pole – and aerial arts in 2019 at South Pole Studios, these hobbies quickly developed from passion to obsession. With their unrivalled fascination for the upside down and a unique talent for choreography creation, they are teaching most of the aerial classes on the schedule – but you might be lucky to catch them teaching the occasional pole – and flexibility class.
Always keen to evolve, Imke’s eagerness, knowledge of technique and attention to detail will ensure that you get the most out of every class.
Why become an instructor?
“I am passionate about sharing my love for dance and exploration, so I love teaching and seeing students develop their own style!”

Sara started training ballet, modern, contemporary and almost every other dance form under the sun at a young age. This no doubt paved the way to her natural affinity for pole and aerial dance. Certified as a contortion-, flexibility- and acrobatics coach, her knowledge and practice is always raising the bar in her classes. With a vast experience in dance – and pole competitions as well as a performer, she shines through choreographies she tailors for her students. While her contemporary pole dance routines are her signature, she is popular for bringing old school style into South Pole Studios’ classique pole classes.
Sara’s teaching style is calm and encouraging discipline, but there will also be a lot of laughter once you’ve tuned into her subtle humour – she loves challenging her students, helping them find their strengths and achieve their goals while having fun.

Lia’s pole journey began in 2019 as the culmination of her constant search for creative outlets. She is a fine art student who spent her formative years learning dance and attending circus training. So, finding this art-form with the perfect blend of strength, flexibility and performance, she naturally blossomed on the pole.
You can find Lia teaching Pole on South Pole Studios’ schedule, but with her love for heels you might be lucky to catch her occasionally with a sexy choreography in one of our classique classes.
What motivated you to teach?
– ” I want to teach others, so they can experience the same joy I do while dancing; after all, what is art if you can’t share it.”

Ziyaan is a born dancer and movement enthusiast. A medical student by day and pole dancer by night, she is a creative force to be reckoned with. As an artist and healer her energy, open mindedness and constant encouragement draw students to her classes like moths to the light. With her eagerness to learn and experience, she took part in her first pole competition in 2023 and placed in her division. You can currently find her teaching Beginner – to High Intermediate Pole classes on South Pole Studios’ schedule.

What has pole brought to your life? “Pole has been medicine for me.”

Anja is a gifted teacher and dancer. In her class, tricky moves become easy and challenges fun, with her invaluable talent of explaining them just the right way. Focusing on you getting that next breakthrough or tackling your nemesis move is where she thrives. While she loves bendy and spinny pole moves, her strong suits are also dynamic, acrobatic pole and hard style in heels! Naturally, we love seeing her teach these skills in the higher levels, but should you see her teaching a beginner or intermediate class, we urge you not to miss it.
Shaped from a young age by rhythmic gymnastics, modern dance and water polo in high school and varsity, she is strong! Her training having progressed into pole in 2019, she quickly rose through the ranks and is now a much loved advanced pole and flexibility instructor at South Pole Studios.

Lelie’s background lies in classical dance which she pursued from a young age – and it shows. Learning various dance styles and competing internationally with focus on choreography created a strong base for her work as a pole instructor.
Her focus are choreography and Heels, so you can find this talented dancer teaching our Classique Pole classes – and while technique and fundamentals are a huge part of Lelie’s teaching, she mostly wants her students to feel sexy, strong and reconnect with their bodies through movement!

What does Pole mean to you?
“Pole helped me heal my relationship with my body, empowered me and became an important creative outlet.”

Neo is a studied teacher and is now bringing their teaching experiences into the pole room. A gifted dancer, they felt intuitively drawn to dance since a very young age, finding magic and healing in movement. While they love the stage and performing in front of an audience – and the audience loves them! – sharing their passion is their driving force. Their dream is for everyone to feel the same empowerment through pole dancing and movement they have discovered for themselves. Their understanding, kind and genuine nature will make you feel so welcome to be yourself, while their professional approach to teaching you the correct techniques will help you progress on your pole dancing journey.

Movement is Quanita’s passion. While acquiring her honours degree in Anthropology, she is an aspiring dance – and movement therapist as well as a professional dancer. Trained in various hip hop styles, she has also been exploring contemporary movements over the past few years, now excitedly merging her vast knowledge with pole!
She is an experienced dance teacher and we are just in love with her rhythm and musicality. To oscillate between feminine and masculine energy in dance is her signature, and seeing her perform is an experience not to be missed!

Jade started taking classes at South Pole in 2022 at the age of 35 after recovering from chronic lower-back pain – proving that aerial really is for everyone! With a background in ballet and contemporary dance, she loves a pretty, lyrical hoop flow, but her true obsession is learning dynamic tricks and rolls. (Her other obsession is trying out new tricks with her doubles partner, and cry-laughing when they don’t go according to plan.)

You can catch Jade teaching our aerial classes, where she hopes to help new students feel just as excited and supported as she felt in her first class. Jade firmly believes that time spent in the studio is never wasted, even if you don’t nail a new skill or get your feet off the ground!

Meet Chanda, a certified movement lover with a background in Sports Science and Biokinetics—and a serious passion for helping people move with purpose and personality! From feisty classique choreography and gravity-defying pole to juicy stretch sessions, she blends science and sass in every class. Her goal? To help you feel strong, confident, and completely at home in your body—whether you’re upside down, in the splits, or dancing like nobody’s watching.

Pole found Rowan in her early twenties and instantly re-awakened her inner acrobat. She was a gymnast in primary school so challenging both mind and body to achieve amazing feats is her home turf.
A passionate teacher who loves to explore expression through movement, her classes are bound to inspire and challenge you.

Anna embarked on their Pole- and Aerial journey in 2021 when they joined South Pole Studios – and never turned back!
Finding an understanding of themselves where training could work with their body instead of against it, and seeing movement as cohesive rather than contradictory, not only helped them rediscover their confidence but inspired them to become a teacher.
Why become an instructor? “I want to give back to the studios, welcoming new students like I was welcomed, and showing them it’s not so scary to try (even if their feet aren’t on the ground).”
You can find Anna teaching our beginner pole dancers – their classes are very popular, so make sure to book in timely!

Coming from a classical dance background and having experience in ballet, contemporary dance and flamenco, Manya has been drawn to movement her whole life – and it shows. She completed her Yoga Teacher Training with Jim Harrington in 2016, with Emphasis on alignment, yoga therapy and yoga for sports.
Her clean lines and control as a dancer show her technical knowledge and understanding of these crafts, and translate to her classes!
Manya discovered pole dancing in 2023 and loves the way it has strengthened and expanded her movement practice – you will see her in studio a lot, exploring new aspects of connection, flow and creative expression.
She loves sharing this passion with her students. Make sure not to miss out on learning from this skilled dancer!