LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Two Las Vegas locals from the Latino community have recently reached major milestones in their careers — one on the Cirque du Soleil stage at the New York-New York hotel and another on the field at the Super Bowl halftime show.
FOX5 reporter Karla Salinas profiled both men, highlighting what she described as unprecedented achievements for Latinos in their respective fields.
Las Vegas native lands dream role at Cirque du Soleil
Nickolas Martinez, a Las Vegas native, recently joined the cast of Mad Apple, the Cirque du Soleil show at New York-New York, fulfilling what Salinas said was a lifelong goal.
“Ever since he was young, his dream was to be on Cirque du Soleil,” Salinas said. “He was born and raised here in Las Vegas. He went to an art school here, so he always knew, ‘Hey, I want to be a dancer.’ But the biggest, biggest, biggest dream that he’s ever had was to be a dancer on Cirque.”
Martinez began dancing at age five and trained throughout his life. Salinas said she came across the story through a Facebook group after his mother, Lynette Martinez, posted about her son’s achievement.
“I saw her post — she was like, ‘I’m so proud of my boy, he just achieved his lifelong dream,’” Salinas said.
As a new cast member, Martinez attends rehearsals nearly every day. Salinas said she attended the show and watched him perform.
“I actually got to see him in the show, and he’s in practically everything,” Salinas said. “He told me that his favorite part was when the basketball players came out. He’s dancing in the background — he’s hip hop dancing. And not only does he do hip hop, but he also does contemporary, he does everything under the sun.”
Representation and the road to Cirque
Salinas said Martinez got emotional when discussing what his role means for Latino representation in the performing arts.
“It’s hard being a Latino dancer,” Salinas said. “There are a lot of preconceived ideas of what a man dancing should look like. But he told me that his parents were always very supportive of him because there really aren’t a lot of Latino dancers, especially male dancers. His parents just said, ‘Forget that, we don’t care about any of that, just go for it.’”
Salinas said Martínez also spoke about being bullied because of his passion for dance, but persisted.
“He went through a lot of bullying because of that,” Salinas said. “But he came out on top.”
Undefeated Vegas boxer appears in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show
Emiliano Vargas, an undefeated lightweight boxer and Las Vegas local, appeared in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, performing in shorts bearing the Mexican flag alongside the artist.
Vargas owns Vargas Boxing Gym in Las Vegas. Salinas said he was training for his next fight when the call came.
“He recalls being in training for his next fight when his lawyer calls him and says, ‘Hey, do you want to be in the Super Bowl halftime show?’” Salinas said. “And he was just like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Vargas told Salinas he still does not know exactly why Bad Bunny chose him.
“He says it was God,” Salinas said. “He says it was just divine intervention, if you will. He still has no idea. He told me that Bad Bunny could have picked anybody — he could have picked a champion — but he picked him.”
Bad Bunny flew out Vargas’ entire gym
Bad Bunny’s team flew Vargas and his entire gym to San Francisco for the week leading up to the game, where the team continued training daily.
“What about my boxing? What about my business?” Salinas said, recounting Vargas’ initial concern. “Bad Bunny’s team flew out his whole team and his whole gym, and they basically set up in San Francisco, and they continued to box and train every single day.”
Salinas said Vargas described Bad Bunny as humble throughout the experience.
“He recalled every time that he would talk to him, that he would get up from his chair and come and say hello and shake his hand,” Salinas said. “He told me that he was just super humble, super human first. They actually played dominoes together. He said it was one of the coolest experiences.”
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
