Hikaru Smith grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where she started dancing at the age of five. She began as a competitive dancer at Dance Theatre of Jacksonville where she was introduced to contemporary, ballet, pointe and hip hop. In 2019, she chose to continue her training at UNCSA for her junior and senior year of high school, and continued into college.
While at UNCSA she has performed works by José Limón, Robert Battle, Patricia Lent, Ashley Lindsey, Mariana Oliveira and Grady Bowman. She has spent time training with Bodytraffic under the training of Tina Berkett, Imre Van Opstal, Micaela Taylor and Maleek Washington.
She also trained with Ballet BC over the summer of 2023 under Medhi Walerski. Through her exposure to many dance techniques, she has acquired a great passion for movement. Hikaru plans on graduating in 2024 with a B.F.A. in contemporary dance, and hopes to continue her growth as an artist as she pursues a career in dance.