Meet Emily Yi | NBA Dancer

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

Hi Emily, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in LA, raised in Orange County, and then moved to San Diego when I was 10 years old where I spent most of my life. My mom was a very young, single mother who was finishing college and working when I was a baby. My grandmother ended up raising me through the early stages of life. While my mom was technically born in Korea, she moved to the states when she was 2 years old and grew up in the midwest. However, she still had that “tiger mom” mentality as she raised me. When I was in school, she was very strict with me. I was not allowed to have sleepovers, go out after school, or do anything fun basically. My life was strictly Kumon, homework, violin, piano, and tennis or swim. Eventually she allowed me to dabble in choir and musical theater, which I fell in love with. I discovered that dancing was a passion of mine and wanted to pursue it in high school. However, my mom would not support me pursuing dance and so, I gave up on that dream. I continued to live in my mom’s regime until my senior year when I found my voice and began to follow my own desires. I went to college and learned that I had been blindly obeying my mother for all these years and finally opened my eyes to who I was and wanted to be. At 22 years old, I put myself in my first dance class and haven’t stopped dancing since. I even became a professional dancer for clubs, festivals, NHL, and NBA! Even though my mom was strict throughout my childhood, I feel that it positively impacted my life today because I have a self discipline and drive that I don’t think I would have had without her upbringing. I learned how to strive for the best and push myself to my full potential. I learned what I am capable of and have carried that teaching through all my stages of life. I am the epitome of the phrase “I will (fill in the blank) or die trying.”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am what you might call a self taught dancer. When I was 18, I went to a lot of raves/festivals, and would always watch the gogo dancers. I was absolutely enamored with them and wanted nothing more than to be a dancer too. I began practicing on my own, in my college dorm room, and eventually felt confident enough to audition for a gogo dancing team. I made my first team and thus began my gogo dancing journey. For years, I performed at festivals across california and held residencies at nightclubs in LA, OC, and San Diego. A few years later, I put myself in my first dance class, so that I could learn more about dance. At 22 years old, I was very late to the dance world, but I didn’t let my age stop me. I signed up for weeks of classes at my local studio, and discovered all the different genres of dance. I fell in love with dancing, and wanted to dance as much as I could. That year, the studio offered a scholarship program where you could work at the studio in exchange for unlimited classes. I was still very new to dancing, but wanted to at least try. I went to the audition, tried my hardest, and was shocked to find out I had made the scholarship program. From that point on, I was taking several classes a day, several days a week. I continued to gogo dance and train whenever I could. At 25, I moved to Vegas for work, but immediately found another studio to train at. At the age of 27, I auditioned for and made my first pro dance team with the Vegas Golden Knights cheer team. I was ecstatic and loved being a part of the team. I spent two seasons with VGK and then auditioned for the Utah Jazz at the age of 30. The Utah Jazz audition was one of the most physically demanding and mentally draining audition processes I had ever been through. I thought of giving up more than once, but with the love and support of my friends and fiance, I was able to push through and ended up making the team. I never thought in a million years I would become a professional NBA dancer! While this audition process was one of the most challenging things I had ever experienced, I learned that I can continuously push the envelope and accomplish more than I think I am capable of. I learned that you will never grow if you don’t challenge yourself or feel uncomfortable. The most rewarding successes in my life have come from the hardest challenges where I reached breaking points I had never reached before. Starting my dance journey so late has been anything but easy. I constantly feel like I am running out of time, like I am always one of the oldest dancers in class or on a team, and that my body is rebelling against all the things I am asking her to do. But, I have learned that age is just a number (despite my angry hip flexors and knees) and you can accomplish literally anything as long as you want it bad enough. You have to be willing to sacrifice, work, and grit through the challenges. But on the other side, is a reward well worth fighting for.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Of the short time I’ve been in Salt Lake City, I have found some fun things to do here. I would definitely take them to downtown at night and visit some of my favorite bars and restaurants. We have a really fun piano bar downtown with dueling pianos and also a retro arcade bar built into a basement! I would take them to the capitol building, which is always a beautiful picturesque view, and also to my favorite dog park where you can let your dogs off leash and go on a hike. I always like to go where there is good food, service, views, music, and wine!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people in my life who have contributed to my success. One is my group of best friends. They are the most supportive group of women I could have ever asked for. These women have shown up for me time and time again, lifted me up when I was down, and at the same token, kept it real with me when I needed it. I am so grateful for them! Someone else who has been paramount to my success, is my fiancé. He has been the pinnacle of support in any endeavor I have. If I said I wanted to be a professional basketball player (with zero experience), he would come home with a jersey with my name on it and say, “Okay let’s do it.” Whenever I reached my breaking point, he was there to pick me up, wipe my tears, and motivate me to keep going. Because of him, I have found success in things I never thought possible. He is one of the reasons I believe in myself so much today, because he believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself. His support and love give me the strength to push through the lowest lows and hardest challenges, both physically and mentally. He has been there for me through my biggest downfalls and also witnessed my greatest accomplishments. As a child, I didn’t have a great support system, nor did I know what it meant to have one. Now, I realize that having a support system like this is crucial and has pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of. I am so grateful to have such amazing people in my life and would not be the woman I am without them!

Instagram: @cupcakemily

Twitter: @cupcakemily

Other: Tiktok: @cupcakemilyy

Image Credits
Dave Brewer