Irina started dancing at the age of 4, when she was 8 she started her ballet training in the ballet school in Novosibirk.  At the age of 9 she moved to Vladivostok and continued her studies there. When she turned 11 she started touring all over Russia with their youth company performing folklore and ballet. After her graduation from high school she left for university in Saint Petersburg where she studied classical ballet and folklore. While studying she made a living as showdancer in the Saint Petersburg Musichal.

When she graduated from university she decided to continue in a more commercial direction and went to Korea as part of a showdance company. She was soon promoted as dance captain. She later went back to Russia and started training dancers and making shows for the company.

When she moved to Antwerp she decided to focus more on teaching and became a ballet teacher with various schools in Belgium.

After performing again with Bram she rediscovered here passion for the stage and started performing again; not only with Vilja, but also with other choreographers such as Isabelle Beernaert, Marc Bogaerts and Lies Serdons.