Ryan is currently in his second year studying under Erica Fischbach and Domenico Luciano in the Pre-Professional Division of the Colorado Ballet Academy in Denver. Training full-time over 25 hours per week he is growing and refining his skills tremendously. The monthly opportunities to perform in front of an audience is adding to the preparation for a professional position in a ballet company.

Ryan was promoted to trainee of the Colorado Ballet in the 2023-2024 Season. In addition to academy training, Ryan takes class with and has performed with the company in Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.

The Male Dancer Academy provided Ryan with male dancer training that was a combination of live zoom sessions, in-person private coaching and small group intensives. This integrative and personalized approach accelerated his skills, broadened his understanding of the profession, and connected him with other male dancers and role models, and delivered coaching that was unavailable or not abundant in his local area.

In the Spring of 2017 Ryan transferred to The Ballet Workshop Port Angeles. Director Kate Robbins and faculty have continued to refine and shape Ryan’s skills and abilities. He studied up to Level 8 which included four years of Pas De Deux at Ballet Workshop which is his favorite area of study. Ryan has also attended Summer intensives with both Ballet Workshop PA as well as with KMC Coaching. With Ballet Workshop Ryan has performed in the annual presentation of the Nutcracker, Scenes De Ballet as well as Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

Ryan began his Ballet career at the age of 5 when it suggested to him as a way to improve balance and flexibility for martial arts. Sequim Ballet is where he began. Starting in 2011 Laurel Herrera instructed Ryan in classical ballet. Sequim Ballet performed for the community several times a year. Performances include Peter and the Wolf, Cinderella, The Magic Slippers, and The Nutcracker. Laurel not only taught Ryan the basics of ballet, but she also developed in him his love of dancing and performing.