Meet Phia Sucevich | Aspiring Professional Dancer & College Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Phia Sucevich and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Phia, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Portland Oregon, and grew up in a remote dance studio with the same group of girls for 15 years. My studio was very heavy on technique training, I would be in the studio around 20 hours a week, working the same steps to perfection. To this day, I take my technique and strength extremely seriously and will work on a step repeatedly until I feel confident. When I was 10 years old, I joined a junior Tap Dance Company which brought me to Los Angeles. I was so blessed and stayed for about 3 years until I started high school. Those three years taught me so much about the dance industry, and in the process, I fell in love with California and knew that was where I wanted to move to college.
To this day, I keep my core values strong and work every opportunity to perfection. Moving to LA was one of the most difficult and simple decisions I have made and I’m glad I did! Now I’m graduating college and taking my first steps into the world as a dancer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I moved to Los Angeles to create a name for myself as a dancer, At 17, alone in a new state it was hard to find my footing, starting a new school with new people I was terrified I wasn’t going to succeed. But over the last two years, I have grown significantly in both my training and as a person.
What sets me apart is my versatility within my styles. I grew up in a Tap dancing studio, Tap is the most worked technique I know. Not a lot of people Tap and it’s devastating because it was such an important and world-changing style for so many years. That’s why it’s so important to me to show Tap Dancing the gratitude and grace it deserves.
Moving to LA wasn’t easy, I struggle with anxiety, as do most people, and working in this industry with a nervous voice in the back of my head is difficult, to say the least. But because I had to keep moving forward, I learned so much about myself in the process. I want people to know that just because you have a little voice in the back of your head, it does not determine who you are as a person, you are stronger than your doubts. When you find people who love and support you, it makes your dreams and ambitions seem a little more achievable.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a great question because I just had my best friends visit me recently, I took them to my favorite places while they were in town. A California trip isn’t complete without a day to attend some amusement park, whether it’s Disneyland, Universal, or Knottsberry Farm. It makes for such a fun day with so many fun memories to share with your loved ones. One of my hobbies is reading, I love diving into a fictional world with fun characters, so another place I would take my friends would be the Grove’s Barnes N Noble, it’s three stories full of different genres to choose from. I could spend hours just going through the shelves, finding new titles to read. Another place I would bring my friends would be one of the many beaches we have in California, they are all so gorgeous, and watching the sunset over the water is one of my favorite places.
For food, Portos Bakery has the best pastries and sandwiches anyone could make, and the prices are reasonable for the large portions you are given. Also, Fixins Soul Kitchen is delicious, in the heart of Los Angeles, it’s the place to have lunch or dinner!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
For a shoutout, I want to give all my love to my home studio and my lovely teachers who pushed me into the dancer I am today. Grande Finale Dance Studio was an incredibly large part of my life and I wouldn’t be here without my teachers and peers, who have and still bring so much love and strength into my life. I was taught so many life lessons within those walls, and I learned what it means to put your blood, sweat, and tears into an art style and stick with it long enough to watch everything pay off. I have so much respect for everyone back home and I just hope to make them proud.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_phia_sucevich_/profilecard/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Image Credits
Ryley Clement
Freija Stone