The Bilak Brothers: From Street Workouts to World Records

In the high-stakes world of live entertainment, few performers possess the raw grit and technical versatility of the Ukrainian duo known as The Bilak Brothers. Rising from the unconventional world of “street workouts” in Ukraine to the global stage, these twins have carved out a reputation for pushing the physical boundaries of hand-to-hand acrobatics and multi-disciplinary performance. Fresh off the back of setting multiple Guinness World Records in Dubai and preparing for a major residency in London’s West End, they sat down with StageLync to discuss their 13-year journey, the unfiltered reality of working with family, and how they are leveraging the digital age to bring the backstage experience to the forefront of their brand.

Anna Robb: To get us started, walk us back to the beginning. Who introduced you to the world of performance, and when did you decide that this would be your career?

Bilak Brothers: Our entry into the circus world was actually quite accidental and entirely self-driven. We don’t come from a traditional circus family, and we didn’t have any initial connections to the industry. At the time, we were in college in Ukraine and were very active in “street workouts”—a movement involving high-intensity calisthenics that was incredibly popular in Ukraine back then. We were just practicing our strength moves on the street when a teacher saw us and was impressed by our coordination. They asked if we would perform a short routine on stage for the girls during an International Women’s Day celebration on March 8th.

We decided to take the opportunity seriously. We found a professional coach who gave us a few technical tips, and we built an actual act. Shortly after that performance, we got an offer to work in a club, and to our surprise, it was a paid job. Once we got that first paycheck, the reality sank in: this isn’t just a hobby; it’s a career. We realized we could make a living through our passion for movement, and we’ve been professional performers ever since.

AR: How many years has it been now since that first performance on the college stage?

BB: It’s been a long and rewarding journey. This coming June, it will officially be 13 years of professional performing. We’ve spent over a decade refining our bodies and our acts to get to the level we are at today.

AR: You’ve mastered several difficult disciplines—Cyr wheel, hand-to-hand, and straps. For those who might not be familiar with the technical terminology, can you describe what these performances actually involve?

BB: Hand-to-hand duo is our foundation; it’s the core of our identity as performers. It involves incredible trust, where one partner (the base) supports the weight of the other (the flyer) in various acrobatic and inverted positions. Then there is the Cyr wheel—Misha actually taught himself that. He saw a video on YouTube of people spinning in the large metal hoop and became obsessed. While we were away on a contract, he managed to find the equipment and just started practicing in his downtime until he mastered the fluid, circular momentum required.

We also perform solo straps, hand-balancing on canes, and duo straps. We purposefully try to master as many disciplines as possible because we always had the ambition to build our own full-length show. In 2019, we finally achieved that in Ukraine at an art space called Mekhanika. It was a massive, old industrial factory transformed into a creative hub. Being able to fit a huge audience in that space and perform our own creation right before the 2020 pandemic was a milestone we will never forget.

AR: You are twins, though you’ve mentioned you aren’t identical. How does that biological connection influence your work together? Is there a “twin intuition” that gives you an advantage over other duos?

BB: We are twins, but as you can see, we look quite different! People always ask about the “twin connection.” In some ways, it is a huge functional advantage because we live, eat, and work together. We are constantly in each other’s space, which means we are always there to push one another. If one of us is feeling tired or unmotivated, the other is right there to say, “No excuses, let’s go to practice.”

However, because we are brothers, we don’t have the “polite filter” that friends or colleagues might have. When you work with a friend, you might hesitate to point out a mistake to avoid hurting their feelings. With us, we are very blunt. We are straight to the point about what is working and what isn’t. Do we argue? Yes, absolutely. But that honesty makes us much stronger. There is no ego or social dancing around the truth; we just want the act to be the best it can be.

AR: You recently made headlines with two Guinness World Records in Dubai. Tell us exactly what you had to do to earn those titles.

BB: That was a huge highlight at the end of 2025. The first record was for “shoulder-to-shoulder” squats. This is a specialized hand-to-hand position where one of us balances on the other’s shoulders, and the base has to perform full squats while maintaining perfect stability. We officially recorded 17, though we’ve done 20 in training. The second record was a one-arm handstand on the head for time. We managed to hold that for one minute and four seconds.

We actually filmed eight more records recently, following all the official Guinness guidelines, but they were initially rejected due to minor technicalities. We aren’t discouraged, though. We are already in the process of reapplying because we know we have the physical capability to hold those titles, and we want to prove it to the world.

AR: Tell us about your creative process. When you’re building a new scene, does the story come first, or do you start with the “tricks”?

BB: It varies depending on the project. Sometimes a high-end venue like the London Cabaret Club will ask for a specific “vibe” or something very atmospheric. We use every tool we have—we’ve even started using AI to help us edit and adjust our music so the timing matches our movements perfectly.

Other times, the inspiration is purely visual. For instance, we both grew out mustaches recently. Because one of us is slightly taller and the other shorter, we realized we looked just like the Mario Brothers characters. While we can’t use the actual Nintendo IP, we’ve taken that playful, “cosplay” energy and turned it into a unique themed act. What makes us special as a duo is that we are almost exactly the same weight. That is very rare for hand-to-hand. It allows us to perform “sequence by sequence” moves where we don’t touch the floor for several minutes at a time. It’s a display of pure, high-strength endurance rather than just standing and doing a single trick.

AR: What is the “big dream” for the next five years? Where do you want to be?

BB: Misha is the grounded one—he’s always focusing on the physical longevity of our bodies and making sure we stay disciplined as we get older. I tend to be more of the dreamer! Right now, a big part of our focus is our digital presence. We have a reality show called The Real Brothers launching at the end of May. It’s designed to show the “real” side of the circus—not just the lights and costumes, but the sweat, the injuries, the failures, and the journey toward those world records.

We are also launching online courses this summer to teach people how to create their own simple, fun acts. We want to show that acrobatics isn’t just for elite athletes; it’s something anyone can enjoy. Career-wise, we’ve signed on to the musical Come Alive here in London for a full year starting this September. We will be performing exclusively there, which is very exciting. After that contract, the ultimate goal is to bring our own full-scale production back to the stage, specifically targeting audiences in London and France where we’ve already built strong connections. We want to keep entertaining and showing people our own unique creations.

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