Nicole Yumiaco may seem quiet — almost shy on the surface. But waiting beneath that exterior lives a vigorous artist, ready to be unleashed on the dance floor. Yumiaco is an energetic dancer, meticulous with her movement, and she pours her heart into every routine. She doesn’t just dance to the music, she controls it.
Most dancers her age can only dream of doing someday what Yumiaco has already accomplished. At 17 years old, she’s taken the stage at huge events for USA Basketball, NBA Summer League, and even the Las Vegas Aces. She says she loves sharing her art with others, whether it’s performing for a crowd of 20,000 or choreographing an eight count to teach at her next dance class.
“I never expected my passion for dance to grow this big,” she says.
Yumiaco was only three when her mom, Raquel Yumiaco, enrolled her at Prodigy Training Center in Las Vegas. They were at a family member’s wedding when Raquel first noticed Nicole’s gift.
“Immediately, she was on the dance floor,” Raquel says. “Not shy, not anything — already dancing. That’s when people started to tell us, ‘You need to sign her up for something.’ So, we did.”
Off the dance floor, Nicole Yumiaco is committed to broadening her knowledge of the field. Within Vegas’ tight- knit and diverse dance community, she’s been able to gain exposure to other talented dancers and choreographers. Although she originally thought she’d only feel comfortable dancing hip-hop, she’s also learned more technical genres, such as modern and contemporary.
Yumiaco believes having a passion for dance means cultivating a relationship with it. Although she fell in love with the art form at a young age, she soon found it to be quite the emotional roller coaster.
“You’re not always going to love dance,” she says. “But in order to pursue it, you really have to love it.”
Despite the ups and down, Yumiaco says, dance is a conduit for escape, her stress reliever. Still, she hasn’t yet decided if it’s her one true path — she’ll keep going and see where it leads. Given the “high” she gets from the journey, she says, it’s important to come down at times and remember she’s still a kid. And just like every other kid, Yumiaco has to go to school. As a senior at the Las Vegas Academy, she is focused on academics, hoping to get into a Top 25 college.
Wherever she ends up, she knows one thing: She’s ready to make a name for herself.
