Eri Nishihara began dancing at the age of five in Hiroshima, Japan. After moving with her family to Reno, NV, at the age of 12, she continued her ballet training at the Conservatory of Movement. She holds a BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Utah, where she studied for two years before joining the second company at Richmond Ballet. She was promoted to the main company in 2017 and has since danced in many works, including Ben Stevenson’s Dracula and Cinderella, Ma Cong’s Firebird, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and Who Cares?, Malcolm Burn’s Romeo & Juliet, and John Butler’s Carmina Burana, and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain pas de deux. She is also a part of the faculty at the School of Richmond Ballet. This is her twelfth season with Richmond Ballet.