Interview with Dancer and Artist Pola Rubis of Neosutras | MakersPlace Blog

We had the fantastic pleasure to speak to Pola Rubis, one-half of body art/dance/visual art duo Neosutras. Along with her husband and collaborator Lamont Goode, the duo is blazing a trail to celebrate wellness, presence, intimacy, and personal freedom within the web3 space. 

This interview took place while Pola and Lamont were on retreat away from their busy lives in Los Angeles and right after the debut of their metaverse opening, Neosutras Art Wellness, hosted by Spatial.  

MP: Can you tell me about your background as a dancer and artist?

PR: I’m originally from Siberia in Novosibirsk. There was not so much to do there, but I was always interested in dance, doing something with my body. 

When I was a teenager, one of the biggest dance companies in Moscow opened a school in our city, which was a dream come true. I sold a family winter fur, and my mother washed the floors in the school so I could attend for two months because we had no money. The money from the fur could have fed my family for six months, but it went to one month of tuition. My mother encouraged me, though, saying that if I never try, I’ll never know. 

After those two months, I did well enough to earn a scholarship to study there. I trained 12 hours a day for five years and became a soloist in the company. I also acquired a lot of injuries, so I started to study Pilates and yoga while traveling Europe and the US, dancing and taking master classes. 

Then I joined a big dance company in Moscow, dancing on some of the biggest stages with some of the biggest artists in Russia for two years until I injured my back. For six months, I was bedridden, and that was when I started to study photography. My family is filled with photographers. My father is a legendary photographer who created color photography in Siberia — before that, there was only black and white in Siberia. 

I continued dancing for the next ten years but stayed focused on photography. That’s where I started my first company, Pola Rubis Productions, in Moscow. I did visual branding for Russian TV channels, record labels, and musicians. 

But I faced more health issues and moved to Bali. I’ve been through ups and downs with my health issues. It’s connected to mental health. You will get ill when you’re doing things your heart isn’t connected to. The body follows the heart. So that’s how I moved to Indonesia. I gave up everything in Moscow, including my show, “The Rules of Success with Pola Rubis.” 

Bali was where my spiritual journey started. I discovered this primal feeling and authentic connection with a place and with people. I discovered real happiness living in Bali. I ended up in L.A. because I missed my flight back to Bali, and then I stayed! But that’s another story. 

I’m a big believer that what we plan with our minds isn’t our higher purpose. We cannot plan ahead. I learn this…