By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

Photo by Mary Turcott

From training in Alaska to Hawaii to Washington, Naquoia Bautista has rich experience dancing in various genres across an array of settings. Today, she is an assistant store manager at Dancewear Center and a pointe shoe fitter in training. Read on to learn more about Naquoia’s dance journey and goals at the store.

Naquoia was largely inspired to dance by her aunt, who she saw explore dance for the first time in her middle school and high school years. Their family home was replete with different videotapes and versions of The Nutcracker. “I just loved the production of it, the story. I thought it was beautiful, I thought the dancers were incredible and it was just so aesthetically wondrous,” Naquoia says of being exposed to The Nutcracker. “I was just enthralled. I’d watch it all the time.” She recalls dancing around her kitchen and pretending that her doll was the Nutcracker Prince.

Naquoia enrolled in a creative movement class at age five in her hometown of Sitka, Alaska. “From there, the rest is kind of history,” she says. Naquoia says that ballet was her first love, as it was the genre she spent most of her time training in growing up. She and her family moved to Hawaii for a year, where she was first introduced to tap. When she moved to Washington, she trained at the Metropolitan Ballet of Tacoma for a while, before returning to Sitka and graduating high school. Naquoia later attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington where she earned her BFA in dance.

Naquoia learned about Dancewear Center Owner and General Manager Samantha Weissbach through a mutual friend. Naquoia had been interested in moving back to Seattle and had learned that the DWC Renton location would be opening and needing employees. Considering her experience with dance and desire to move to the Seattle area, a position at DWC seemed like a great fit for her. She began work in early January 2022, kicking things off with a training and pointe shoe fitting workshop.

In addition to her role as assistant store manager, Naquoia is also training to be a pointe shoe fitter, planning to be an observer before she tackles fittings hands-on. She shares that she already feels like she has so much information at her fingertips, having gone through the fitting training and continually learning from the other DWC employees.

So far, Naquoia has enjoyed being able to help provide people with the tools they need to be successful on their dance journey. She has particularly enjoyed being able to fit ballet slippers and tap shoes on children just beginning dance and problem-solving with them to find the best possible fit. Aside from working with customers, she’s enjoyed the small projects she gets to work on throughout the store, like assisting with decor, dressing the store mannequin, and more.

As of now, Naquoia’s primary goals at Dancewear Center are to buckle down and learn as much as she can. She looks forward to getting more accustomed to working with customers and familiarizing herself with inventory so she can assist people to the best of her abilities.

Outside of work, dancing takes up much of Naquoia’s time. She takes ballet and contemporary classes but is also planning on venturing into ballroom styles, including salsa. Having just moved back to Seattle, Naquoia is excited to get re-acquainted with the Seattle dance landscape. She’s also hoping to have some opportunities to choreograph for herself and her friends, perhaps even putting together a small production or dance film in the future.

Naquoia also adores hiking. In summer 2021, she and a friend went on an overnight backpacking trip in Oregon, hiking down the Timberline Trail around Mount Hood. She also enjoys swimming, sharing that she participated on a swim team growing up for a little bit. “It hasn’t been a consistent part of my life, but whenever I have the time to get back into swimming, I really like to hop in the pool,” Naquoia says. She also likes to read on occasion, watch movies, and snuggle her roommate’s cat, Spoons.

Moving forward in the dance world, Naquoia hopes to see an increase in inclusivity across the industry. In college, she enjoyed attending festivals with the American College Dance Association and being able to take classes in styles she doesn’t usually train in. For instance, she would often attend classes aimed at teaching dance techniques for men. Naquoia says that it was interesting to enter that type of space and be a minority, as dance is a largely women-dominated industry. She believes the dance industry will benefit from making more spaces welcoming and open to people who are interested in partaking.

We’re thrilled to welcome Naquoia as the latest member of the DWC family!

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Getting to Know DWC Assistant Store Manager Naquoia Bautista