The Joffrey Ballet School Performance Company is currently on tour in the South, and dancer Melissa Westlake is sharing her experience with Pointe.

Day 1: Monday, April 15

Our first full day in Charlotte, North Carolina, started off with an adventure: We taught some local kids selections from our rep, then performed with them on the court of the Time Warner Cable Arena before the Bobcats vs. Knicks game. What a feeling it was to hear the announcer say, “And now, performing alongside the young dancers of Charlotte, we have the Joffrey Concert Group!” And we were off!

There were a few mistakes of course because, as we all know, no performance is ever perfect, but the feeling was irreplaceable. Onward it was to Rows O and P in section 123 where we screamed and yelled and cheered on the Knicks. (You can take the dancers out of New York, but you can never take New York out of the dancers.) My friend Kristina and I made it our mission to get a picture with rap artist Nelly, who was watching the game courtside. The other dancers doubted us, but fail we did not. It took jumping over a few chairs and creeping and crawling between people but we successfully got our shots!

Day 2: Tuesday, April 16

Off to the host families. After two nights at the Country Inn Suites in Charlotte, we were on our way to Statesville Performing High School of the Arts for our next performance. It was our second year at the school and we were excited to be back in familiar territory where we didn’t mind taking half an hour to space. While the men unloaded the truck with our treasure chest of costumes and props, the girls ran backstage to make sure that we got the biggest dressing room, seeing as there at least twice the number of girls as boys. But we couldn’t let the men do all of the work, so we grabbed the bars and prepared to take company class.

Later, while backstage getting ready for the performance, we all enjoyed the company of our baby mascot, Connor, the son of our associate director Brian McSween. We played pirates and wizards with swords made out of hangers—and taught him to sew our pointe shoes. Though our program was cut short one piece because of time, the company did an amazing job. We opened with Larry Keigwin’s Elements-Air followed by Mr. McSween’s One Last Breath and artistic director Davis Robertson’s Sibling Rivalry, and finished strong with Gerald Arpino’s Kettentanz

The audience could not have been more appreciative. After the show, we sat and talked with the school’s dance program. There was nothing but laughter and full conversations in the room. Little Connor was a big hit, as always, showing off his awesome pirate skills. And just like that we were in our vans again dropping everyone at their new homes for the next two nights. One family was kind enough to invite some of us take a quick a dip in their pool, which turned into doing cannonballs into the lake and sitting in the jacuzzi for some much-needed relaxation in front of what was the most beautiful view we could have asked for.

The Joffrey Ballet School Performance Company is currently on tour in the South, and dancer Melissa Westlake is sharing her experience with Pointe.

Day 3: April 17

First night in hosts’ family homes was a success! I, unfortunately, had to pull the first all nighter on tour in order to get my schoolwork in order. It’s tough being on the road and having finals at the same time. But in a few weeks I will have finished my sophomore year of college!

Performance number three was Larry Keigwin’s Air, Brian McSween’s One Last Breath, Dwight Rhoden’s Threshold Inlay and Gerald Aripino’s Kettentaz and Birthday Variations at Central Piedmont Community College. Being on all the different types of stages is really taking an effect. Tight calves, plus tight hamstrings from sitting in the car, Achilles’ starting to pull, quad muscles sore and even some very painful Charlie horses. This stage was by far one of the most difficult, spacing wise, because it was a trapezoid. We did not expect it to be that small or oddly shaped. With a little improvisation though everything ended up running smoothly.

Afterwards, our host family gave us a quick trip on a two passenger airplane. Racing down the runway, the meter reached 60 RPM and the plan lifted off of the ground and off into the sunset we flew. The pilot even let me fly for a bit!

Day 4: April 18

Next up was Duke University in Durham NC. We arrived pretty early because Mr. McSween was headed off to teach a master class so there were about 4 hours to kill before our own class. The company scattered and explored the campus, then had a game of frisbee. I guess we stayed in the sun a little to long because after, a good majority of us looked like red tomatoes in the summer heat! It was a miracle we got through class and rehearsal afterwards.

Day 5: April 19

We had a class at 10 am and rehearsal at our associate artistic director’s, old dance studio, King David Christian Conservatory with Mr. Sal and Ms. Barb. This was an important rehearsal for us because we had a show the next day and unfortunately one of our company members, Kristina, was injured and two other dancers, Vanessa and Shaina, had to replace her. Anything can happen while on tour.

After, Mr. McSween had to go and teach a master class so they gave us a day at the mall. We went shopping, watched a movie, and even had some frozen yogurt. And as soon as we got back to the hotel it was straight to bed, with a 7:45am departure time the next day.

Day 6: April 20

The studios at Carolina Dance Theatre in Raleigh were absolutely beautiful and the studio in which we performed in was twice as large as ours in Manhattan. Vanessa and Shaina were fabulous! For only rehearsing the pieces for a couple of hours, they truly did a fantastic job.

Then it was back into the vans for another two and a half hour car ride back to Charlotte. In downtown Charlotte we were all excited to head to Fuel Pizza Shop where they have some of the best gluten free pizza. One of our company members, Victor, is allergic to gluten so it was a good meal for him, he could have had a whole pie by himself! As everyone went out to enjoy the last of daylight, I stayed in Fuel Pizza reading up on my child psychology class to prepare myself for a quiz that needed to be done by 11pm the next night. Then it was back to the hotel though to prepare for our next stop, Atlanta Georgia!

Day 7: April 21

Our day started off with an early morning birthday breakfast for company member Shaina and Mr. McSween. We were all pretty excited to get to Atlanta, just because it felt as is if we were in North Carolina for so long. On the way, we found a great state park with a beach, boats, a lake, any and everything that we wanted to do outdoors. An hour and a half went by pretty quickly, and it was time for us to go and meet our host families. Megan and I were sent off with the Cash family. A wonderful southern dinner was awaiting us: baked macaroni and cheese, pulled BBQ pork and a delicious fruit salad. It was an early night, but a very good one.