NO DAYS OFF: KSENYIA

by Alpha Industries, March 5, 2020

Our No Days Off series highlights creatives and boundary pushers by showing how they spend their day. Next up, writer and dancer Kseniya Sovenko.

 

1 - WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU? 

In the morning, I’m out of bed and sweating in the gym within 30 mins of waking up, max. It’s my caffeine, my meditation, my reset, my clarity. The movement I give my body in the morning keeps me running at full capacity for the rest of the day. I feel lethargic, uninspired and unmotivated without my daily fix of adrenaline, endorphins and all those happy brain chemicals that can only be released with exercise. 

After that it’s straight to the office—I work as the Marketing Manager and Copywriter for DAYBREAKER. We throw sober, early morning dance parties in 28 cities around the world, so our vision and efforts are quite expansive. I’m creating all day—words, community touchpoints, images of inspiration, etc. 

At 7PM it’s time to come home to my lil’ jungle nest in East Williamsburg and recharge with my other half—movies, books, long conversations, special projects, puzzles, etc. And then I do it all over again.

2 - WHAT ARE SOME [PROFESSIONAL] MILESTONES THAT YOU'RE EXCITED ABOUT HITTING IN 2020?

I’m a very go-with-the-flow kind of girl. I’m a former professional, competitive ballroom dancer with a degree in journalism and sociology, with a stint in commercial modeling and freelance brand management who now works for a small but mighty community wellness company. You can’t design that, you can’t imagine it, you can’t anticipate it.

My goals are simply to push my creative limits, my work ethic and my potential as far as I can in every way, and see which direction life takes me. I don’t like to plan for the future, in my experience, it diminishes the excitement of the present. 

3 - WHAT DRIVES YOU / YOUR WORK? [PURPOSE]

Empathy, connection and emotion. Everything I do—whether that’s dancing, writing, storytelling or creating—I do in order to inspire others to feel, or to capture what they feel and expand that. Our capacity for emotion and connection is infinite, yet so many of us feel more alone than ever before. I try to bridge that gap, as best I can.

4 - LIFE DEMANDS PERFORMANCE. IN WHAT WAYS WERE YOU PUSHED OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE [WITH YOUR WORK]?

Throughout my dance career, I was constantly pushed outside my physical and emotional comfort zone. It didn’t matter how I was feeling, nor how my body was feeling—I had to show up and put the work in, for hours, every single day. Sometimes you feel as if you’re at the edge of your breaking point—physically exhausted, emotionally drained and unmotivated—but your coach tells you to do it one more time, and you have no choice. That’s where the transformation really happens. And right now, with writing, it’s the same. Just when I don’t think I can write another word, I must write one more sentence, and that’s where the magic happens.

5 - WE AT ALPHA UNDERSTAND THAT MINDSET IS A HUGE FACTOR AND OFTEN AN ADVANTAGE IN REACHING SUCCESS. HOW DO YOU [MENTALLY] PREPARE FOR THE UNIQUE CHALLENGES YOUR WORK PRESENTS? 

Honestly, this may seem counter intuitive, but I’ve realized over the years that as an artist, I am (in a lot of ways) a vessel. My best dance performances never came from technique, but rather from an emotion or a story that was passing through me. When I write—it’s the same thing. You can talk about syntax and grammar all you want, but writing that really speaks to people comes from the soul. So when I am told either my movement or words aren’t good enough, I’ve grown skin thick enough to understand that doesn’t mean *I* am not good enough. It means I need to feel more deeply, to return to myself, take a breath and try again. 

ABOUT PERSONAL STYLE:

1 - HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF WEARING THIS PIECE / THESE PIECES? 

I like adventure. Being outdoors for hours and hours, going wherever the road takes me. Sometimes that means moving fast, and sometimes that means standing still and taking the world in. I like the idea of being protected from the elements, without needing to carry the weight of too many layers. I see these pieces as my outermost, top shell for exploration. 

2 - WOULD YOU SAY YOUR STYLE MATCHES YOUR AMBITION? 

My style is as go-with-the-flow as my mentality. I can wear the same outfit for days, and then I’ll feel a shift and do a full 360. I’ve never fallen behind a single camp to drive my aesthetic. My feelings dictate what I wear and how I wear it. 

3 - HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL STYLE? 

Most of all, I like color, comfort and playfulness. Thrifting is big for me, or I go through cycles where I only buy clothes while traveling, so they have a story behind them. I don’t really follow trends, unless it’s on accident. 

4 - THE SS20 PT COLLECTION WAS BORN OF PURPOSE. WHAT KIND OF PURPOSE DOES IT SERVE FOR YOUR STYLE / YOUR WORK? 

It’s versatile, adaptive and matches my pace. I don’t feel it’s weight, but I feel it’s impact.