He got his start tap dancing at age 3. He’s now a top arts student in the country.

When Ulises Otero was 3 years old, he ran into a tap dancing class and started stomping his feet.

Fast forward 15 years and Otero, now 18, has been named a 2020 National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) Finalist in theater. He’s one of 153 YoungArts Finalists — 21 in Theater — from across the country.

Lin and Ted Arison established YoungArts in 1981 to develop promising young artists throughout the United States, ages 15-18, in the visual, literary and performing arts. Ted Arison, who died in 1999, co-founded Carnival Cruise Lines.

The YoungArts finalists, including Otero, are in Miami this week, as part of National YoungArts Week. They are taking master classes, attending workshops and being mentored by some of the leading artists in their fields. (For a complete list of winners, go to youngarts.org/winners.)

“They are finding their artistic collaborators in this moment,” said Rebekah Lanae Lengel, YoungArts’ senior director of artistic programs, and a 2000 YoungArts winner in writing. “It helps them to start thinking about their place as an artist in a deeper way.”

Otero’s love of the arts eclipsed all other activities.

“Not all kids like sports. And believe me, I tried,” said his mother Nora Onate, 62, of Westchester. “When I put him in a basketball camp, the coach called me and said, ‘Why don’t you pick him up? He doesn’t like it.’”

Otero, a graduate of Miami-Dade’s New World School of the Arts and a freshman at the University of Florida, was surrounded by people in the arts while growing up. In fact, his cousin was the tap dancing teacher in the class he ran into as a child.

His father is a sound engineer and his family owns Roxy Theatre Group, a non-profit that offers performing arts classes to children, including those who can’t afford it, from its Kendall studio.

While Otero is an exceptional tap dancer, according to his mother, and has experience in other disciplines, he remains focused on the theater.

“Right now, what feels right for me, is acting and musical theater,” he said. When asked if he’s shooting to be a Hollywood star or a performer on Broadway, he said, “Both!” followed by a giggle.

“This field is so diverse, and with a degree in theater, I can leave the path open to take the opportunities that come my way,” he said. “Watching your peers — and performing yourself — there’s an energy. And there’s no other profession like it,” said Otero.

As a YoungArts finalist, Otero is eligible to be nominated as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the highest honors bestowed on high school seniors. As the sole nominating agency, YoungArts nominates 60 artists annually to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, which selects 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. Otero also will receive up to $10,000 as a YoungArts finalist.

For Otero, being a YoungArts finalist validates all the hard work he’s put into theater.

“At YoungArts, everyone is incredibly talented, and I’m just incredibly grateful to be a part of that.”

If you go

YoungArts week in Miami runs through Sunday. Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-youngarts-foundation-3480891865

This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 6:00 AM.