Olya Samusik

Olya was born in Belarus, Eastern Europe, and began her movement journey there through karate at age 9, a path she pursued for 6 years. As Olya discovered her affinity for Katas, sequences of purposeful moves akin to choreography, her interest in dance emerged.

In her 20s, Olya started exploring dance, intrigued by pole and aerial dancing initially. After an unhealthy obsession with the new venture in the first couple of years, she found herself gravitating more toward the artistry and flow than the acrobatic side of movement. Olya discovered how therapeutic dance can be, ultimately embracing contemporary dance for a few years and putting everything aerial on hold.

In 2016 Olya moved to Philadelphia and immersed into a variety of dance and movement styles there: ballet, modern jazz, hip-hop, yoga, acrobatics, and more. Having returned to pole dance and aerials in 2019, Olya prioritized gradual progress, fluidity, and healthy training. At the same time, she rediscovered erotic pole dancing style, feeling the freedom she wasn’t able to access before due to past mental blocks and body image issues.

In late 2022, Olya moved to Vermont and shortly after joined the beautiful, growing dancer community at River’s Way Movement, where she is grateful for the chance to teach, learn, and grow as a performing artist.