Eighteen-year-old tap dancer rio.jasm1ne used to shy away from the spotlight, but the spotlight keeps shining on her and her skills. When the Fullerton, California–native was younger, she didn’t always believe in herself. “My teachers brought me up, when I didn’t have much confidence in my dancing,” she says. Since then, Gomez has taken big strides: She won a 2026 youngarts Award and, in May, was named Artist of the Year for Dance by the ocregister. Now the high school senior is preparing to attend UCLA, where she will major in business economics and, of course, continue dancing. dancespiritmagazine spoke with Gomez about her greatest inspirations, future goals, and the advice she’d give her younger self. Read the interview at the link in our bio. 💖 📝: catierobinson_ 📸(1,2): Rio Gomez. Photo by Leonard Ortiz, courtesy Gomez/ ocregister 📸: Rio Gomez (center) performing her "Sinnerman." Photo by Scott Edward Silva, courtesy Gomez. #Tapdancer #Dancetraining #Tapdance #tap #Youn...