By Melissa Anduiza, Charlotte Ballet dancer

My day begins at 8 a.m. with a strong dosage of Cuban coffee and a loving greeting from my German shepherd/lab mix, Theodore. I bustle around the kitchen collecting my breakfast and lunch for the day. Breakfast varies between eggs, cereal or yogurt and granola. It is vital that I eat every morning to fuel my body and mind for the day.

I arrive at the Center for Dance with plenty of time to select my rehearsal wear, fix my hair and apply my makeup. As my fellow dancers and I enter the studio for our morning ballet class, there is a radiant energy throughout the room. We take our places at the barres, and slowly but actively, I do stretches that wake up my tight muscles. When I’m done with barre, I find the perfect pair of pointe shoes to wear for floor work during class.

During Nutcracker season, I am very careful to separate which pairs of pointe shoes I will use for class and for rehearsals. If I am rehearsing for Snow Queen, which requires an extensive amount of pointe work, I choose a pair of harder, more firm shoes for endurance, support and stability. If I am rehearsing for Arabian, this calls for much slower, grounded movements, so I use softer shoes.

After the morning class, I check the dancer rehearsal to see what I typically rehearse from 11:15 a.m. to around 6 p.m. Two times a week, I end my work day with a Pilates mat class at 8th Street Studio. I have discovered how beneficial it is to condition and strengthen my body in order to aid with the already tough art form of ballet. I learn something new about myself every day and strive to constantly improve.

Almost 12 hours after my day started, I am finally back home to Theo. I love to unwind by cooking a delicious and nutritious dinner while listening to Juan Luis Guerra or Marc Anthony. After a relaxing bath to relieve my sore muscles, I am in bed for at least eight hours of sleep before I wake up and happily do it all over again.

See Melissa perform in Charlotte Ballet’s Nutcracker December 12-23 at the Belk Theater. For more information, visit charlotteballet.org. Photo by Peter Zay