As ten-year-old Bianca Euler sings her solo, the audience looks at her in surprise. Although she had been dancing since she was five, this was the first time anyone has heard her sing. Since then, Euler has sang and danced in various performances, and this year her role in Ballet Arkansas’s “Nutcracker Spectacular” was her last performance.

Euler has danced in the “Nutcracker Spectacular” for the past four years, which featured music from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. While she has danced in the ballet for four years, this was her first year singing for the ballet. The ballet took place Dec. 9-11 at the Robinson Center in Little Rock. Euler danced with  Dec. 9 and 11, and sang during the Dec. 10 performance.

Euler was first introduced to dancing through her mother, who has supported her dancing career from the beginning.

“My mom asked me what I wanted to get into, and I just said dancing because that’s what every little girl says basically,” Euler said. “[With] singing, I only started in about fifth grade. I was just kind of wanting to do like a solo for a Christmas thing, and then it turned out I could actually sing, and everyone was kind of shocked because I never sung before.”

While Euler enjoyed performing, she explained it comes with challenges and can be tiring. 

“The hardest part is the endurance of the piece because [the ballet’s] like the Spanish dance, and it’s very fast and it’s en pointe. So it’s a lot, technically, and that makes it really difficult to do,” Euler said. “I don’t even know what I think about half the time while I’m performing. It’s kind of just I want to get it done with ‘cause it’s tiring.” 

Although the performance could be challenging, Euler still had a good experience dancing with friends. 

“I get to perform for like, thousands of people, and it’s really fun,” Euler said. “I get to dance with a bunch of people that I’ve been friends with for a few years now. We’ve always gotten the same parts.” 

Although this was her last ballet performance, Euler plans to continue singing throughout college in the University of Arkansas’s Choir. According to Euler, she performs because it allows for her to express herself. 

“It’s just an outlet, it’s like, it’s just an escape,” Euler said.