He highlighted his experience as a resident aerialist at the Domain and his motivation to create multi-dimensional events that empower artists. DragonWolf Productions now involves over 400 artists globally, with plans to produce 52 unique events in 2025. Ilia emphasized the importance of harnessing chaos and creating a safe environment for artists. He also shared his personal experiences with vulnerability and the balance between therapy and high-energy events. Upcoming events include Art Explosion 2.0 on January 4th and a special event in March 2025.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Dragon Wolf, Astra circus, aerialist, multi-dimensional events, artist empowerment, chaotic energy, emotional vulnerability, magnetic intensity, safe environment, personal challenges, mental health, therapy importance, upcoming events, Valentine's rave, Love Letter to Austin

SPEAKERS

Dragon Wolf, Night Owl Therapy

Night Owl Therapy 

Ilia, thank you for meeting with us today. Will you tell us a little bit about your background as an artist? 

DragonWolf 

My name is Ilia, and my artist name is DragonWolf, and I'm the founder of Dragonwolf Productions and the co-founder of Astra Circus. I started my artist journey, basically as a performer myself, and kind of started with being a break dancer when I was a teenager, and as I went through high school and college, I transitioned more to playing, competing in obstacle races and things that were very physically challenging and almost aerial-like, and while I was doing that, I kind of started getting reintroduced back into the performance world after college, and started combining my experience in dancing and in obstacles… Basically, which makes for a very good combination that an aerialist would need, which is grace, flexibility, and strength, and also wanting to do things up in the air. That led to a pretty exciting journey where I was involved in many, many productions, shows, concerts, and events. I've been a resident aerialist at the domain for six years now, and altogether, just got to know a lot of different productions, a lot of different genres of music, and the demographics that go with different art styles and interests. One of the things that I noticed while I was doing this was a lot of the times artists were pretty limited in how they could express themselves, or the space they were given. A lot of the times, really large productions along the producer's venues, they don't really want to invest a lot in the artists, because they want to make their money. They don't want to take a lot of risks. They don't really want to deviate from the status quo. So, for them, it's very basic. Get some music playing, get people drinking. If there's some art that's just some extra bonus points. They don't really invest all that much into it, except some very specific visionary producers. Now that really motivated me to get into producing events myself. That is where I started, kind of creating events that were very multi dimensional. They had full circus shows and full music shows, art installations, vendors, all of that, and it's led to a very amazing movement that's becoming more global at this point, where we are producing events that really are giving a lot of the power to the artists and a lot of the aerialist, contortionists, painters, art installation creators, dancers…just artists of all different types are welcome to use the platform that I've been creating to bring their visions to life, which is why I always said when I started doing this, that my mission was to create a world where anything was possible, and now we are involved with more than 400 artists globally… And going into 2025 DragonBall Productions is producing 12 original large-scale events, one every month, with the plan of hitting 52 unique events per year in the next three years.

Night Owl Therapy 

That is incredible. I want to talk to you more about your profile. Your profile has a lot of confidence and chaos. How much of that energy is curated and how much of it is just walking through life unapologetically you?

DragonWolf 

I always say that my favorite thing is to harness chaos. So, I would say that one of my strengths is looking at very chaotic energy. Imagine walking into a room and meeting 100 people just taking a quick look in the room, and you see a contortionist, you see an aerialist, you see a painter, you see a musician, you see someone who is really good with sound engineering, light engineering. Just take one look and quickly imagine how that could come together to create a world. So, one of my most popular event series right now, art explosion, is very much exactly that, where I called it “art explosion,” because it's a platform where these artists, right, I have 80 artists in Art Explosion, 2.0 on January 4th, of all these different types that will come together to create this one play land world, basically, as I like to call it, that the audience can come into and just experience such a variety of art. So, in a way, I would say my strength is planning chaos.

So, I would definitely say the plan, the curated part, is to empower every type of art… But it is true, I do not sit there and decide let's make these color schemes, or make it all be about just one type of art, and because of that, my profile, yes, definitely looks quite chaotic. So, if you scroll down, you're likely to find many different types of art, many different things.

Night Owl Therapy 

What do you feel is the most vulnerable thing you have ever shared, and how do people respond?

DragonWolf 

I think the really vulnerable part of doing what I do is we, as artists, we expose very intimate parts of ourselves, physically, emotionally, creatively with the world. So, in a lot of ways, when, let's say, I put on an event, and that event is now seen by a million people around the world. A lot of the contents are shared in different countries. So, when I look at my profile right now, only about a fraction are from the US, only every small fraction are from Austin, and that's just my profile, knowing when we make something, and now it's shared by 100 artists, and those and then that shared again, over, and over, and over. Oftentimes I find myself in conversation in places like recently, I went to a different city where I haven't been for years, and I was running into people who knew so much about me, which was wonderful, but at the same time, it really showed that I have a relationship with these people who see my work, who support my work, or have even opinions about my work that I have never met, that I don't know. That is a very vulnerable thing, and I would say on an emotional level, that can be very confusing a lot of the times.

Night Owl Therapy 

Well, your vibe screams, don't mess with me, but also come closer. So how do you use that magnetic intensity to connect or protect yourself from other people?

DragonWolf 

That is a very interesting question, because that's something that I was even talking to someone else about earlier today. The scene is not a nice place. That itself was the reason I got into producing. I wanted to create a world where artists are taken care of. They are respected. I have seen, I have seen types of sabotage. I've seen types of behaviors in the scene from those top producers with billions of dollars to producers that are super small time. I have seen things that are near criminal. Well, they are not near criminal. They are criminals. I have seen sexual abuse. I have seen financial abuse. I have seen reputation abuse. This is out there, and it is very tricky, because it is true, I wanted to create a safe environment for everyone to thrive in, for artists to be respected in. And I know a lot of people saw that and they applauded it. They supported it. If there was no support, it would have failed. I have not been around all that long, but in this very short time, we were able to quickly gain a global traction that surpassed some producers that have been around for decades. I know that did not sit well with some people, and some of these people, like I mentioned, they are not good people. Everyone is welcome to collaborate, to co-support, to be in this magical world that we are creating with us, and we support them as well, but at the same time, I do have to keep that edge. Peace is the only thing welcome here. Okay, well,

Night Owl Therapy 

Let’s talk about Dragonwolf energy. which one comes out when things get messy in your personal life, and how do you tame the beast?

DragonWolf 

I would say the really interesting thing is, and this happens almost on the daily, is people meet me in real life, and they're like, “You're nothing like what I imagine you'd be like.” They tell they tell me I'm really gentle. They tell me that I am not at all aggressive. So, I definitely think that there is something. One time I asked this person, and I was performing a different city, and this group basically started talking to me, and after just a couple of minutes, they were like, “You're nothing like what we imagined.” And I was like, “What do you mean?” And they said, “You know, you have created so much, and you're just this long hair, you know, flying around the air, the strong guy. We did not think you'd be gentle and sweet,” and I think in my personal life, that is my energy. I'm very gentle, as you'd expect with like your gentle artist, right? So, to some extent, the Dragonwolf energy is not interpersonal energy, but rather, even when I talk about rising against challenges and whatnot, I'm really referring to challenges, not challenges that come up with people. So, to me, every relationship must be a gentle experience. It must be about supporting one another, uplifting one another, and the concept of Dragonwolf really was about the challenges we face in life on the path to self-actualization. And within Dragonwolf, the wolf is the representation of the love for people.

Night Owl Therapy 

Okay, your page feels like a mix of therapy and a wild night out. So how do you how do you reconcile those extremes in your own mental health journey?

DragonWolf 

I will say there are two ways to finding peace. One is to seek out peace straight up, and the other one is to burn out chaos, right? So, it's like, once you burn out your adrenaline, you feel at peace, for example. So, when it comes to anxiety, for example, the adrenaline surge that causes anxiety to happen? Well, one prevents your adrenaline from surging by. You know, doing things like meditation, positive self talk, but also by just doing something crazy. I think that we could find peace in both directions, and when we use both of them, that balance does actually make me feel pretty centered. So, I think that the wild night out is very nice, if then you could go home. You know, it's only when that night out never ends is that we lose our balance of stable life at home and intentional time out. I think when I find myself leaning too much in either direction is when I find myself challenged more by the emotions of it all, and the emotions can get very challenging to navigate, because imagine you make a super big event, like there are cameras in your face all night, then you go home, and now all of this content is coming out. You have hundreds of people messaging you, and for the next few days, it's like you just have that rush, and then comes the fact that you did all of that, but now you're at home, none of that surrounds you. You're in a different energy. So a very big challenge, I would say, is going back and forth between the really high, extroverted, in the moment, dealing with the challenges, engaging the situation, delivering the art, going from that to just quietly at home. That is the challenge I've seen a lot of people face, but over time, it gets smoothed out. I think when I just started being in the entertainment scene, I was affected more, whereas now I could go perform in front of a couple of 1000 people, as if I'm just performing in my living room and then just come home afterward and be with my family.

Night Owl Therapy 

What would you say to someone who is reluctant to see to receive therapy?

DragonWolf 

I think therapy is extremely important. I have found a lot of value in speaking with a therapist, even when I feel completely fine. It is a neutral party that you get to talk to. You know, it is like reviewing your thoughts, reviewing your actions, with a professional. And I personally, sometimes have gone into therapy thinking, “Oh, my God, I have nothing to talk about today. I feel completely fine. Nothing special has happened to talk about.” And there's been times that I asked my therapist to meet me off schedule like, “Hey, I have something crazy that just happened, and I need your thoughts,” or “I need to talk to someone that's a neutral party.” I would say, seeking therapy is like seeking anything else. It's like it's like drinking orange juice. When you're healthy, you know, like going to the gym, except for your mind. That's actually the best way I would think about it, and that's when you're healthy, when you have something bothering you, when you find yourself stuck in a loop, sometimes a professional is able to help you break out of the cycle that you're stuck in.

Night Owl Therapy 

Well, thank you so much for sharing. Is there anything that we can plug in on our website or on our Instagram page? Any upcoming shows you have?

DragonWolf 

Oh, absolutely. My next big event is January 4th, Art Explosion Party. 2.0 for Valentine's Day. I have two types of events planned on Valentine's Day, which is a show, a circus show that has two showings. This is a sit-down circus experience, and then a Valentine's rave that night. And all the three events I just mentioned come with free beverages and free snacks. That's one of the things that I'm trying to have at my events is just get your ticket, come in, and just enjoy. For April 27th, I have my Love Letter to Austin event, which is also Ior’s Birthday after party. For March, I have a very special treat planned, and that may be the biggest event I've ever done, but it's unannounced because it's still in the planning stages. But 2025 overall, is going to be very exciting. I have my own exclusive large space now that will only host DragonWorld events, so hopefully we'll be able to give you guys even more creative art than ever before. We have 12 unique events coming in 2025 and 52 in 2026.