16-year-old Yuma dancer gets scholarship to ballet school in Europe

This week’s bright side news story is a follow-up on 16-year-old ballet dancer, Eric Snyder from Yuma.

He recently got back from performing in the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland.

“It was a lot more difficult than I bargained for,” he shared.

Snyder said he has never done anything quite like this dance competition. It really pushed him physically and mentally.

“Just the whole mental game of it and the whole trying to make sure I represent myself in a good way each day was very difficult,” he said.

But nothing can stop this 16-year-old. He overcame all of the pressure as the ballet was being broadcasted on the web across the world. He was selected as one of the top 21 best dancers.

“I was just trying to stay calm and show the world what I came here to do and show my joy and passion for dance,” Snyder said.

For one whole week. Snyder participated in ballet classes, one-on-one coaching from world class ballet teachers and at the end of the week he performed one classical and one contemporary ballet dance.

“As for next year and the years to come after that I will be in London at the English National Ballet,” he said.

Snyder’s last performance in Yuma is on March 24th.

“This is the closing moment for me, my last big performance in Yuma,” he said.

Snyder will be leaving a lot behind as he continues to pursue his dream of being a professional ballet dancer.

“I’ll miss performing at Yuma High School, the backstage banter that I have with all of my friends here at the studio and I’m going to miss being able to perform for my family who lives really close, so it’s going to be different from here on out wherever I perform,” he shared.

You can purchase tickets to see Snyder perform one last time in Yuma by clicking this link here.

He will be performing with the Yuma Ballet on March 24 in their Giselle show at Snider auditorium on 6th Avenue.