As the other pair of dancers practiced a lift, Hansvick mirrored the movements from the ground — Copeland was injured. When the music ended, they spoke for a moment and then ran the dance from the top.
Hansvick, a junior, will graduate a year early this May with a bachelor’s of science in music and an outside field in ballet. She will perform in the Sugar Plum Fairy’s dance in one cast of “The Nutcracker” Dec. 5. “The Nutcracker” runs Dec. 3-6.
Hansvick did all styles of dance, but said she kept getting pushed toward ballet.
“(Ballet) is where I feel the most confident,” Hansvick said. “And I just really love it, I really do.”
In addition to learning time management, Hansvick said ballet has taught her to pay attention to the little things and the basics.
She said the music especially helps her to fully commit to the movement, and being in sync with the music gives her confidence in her steps.
In order to do big, amazing pieces, you have to be able to go back to the basics every day and remember their value, Hansvick said.
“Attention to the detail is what makes the movement look calm and collected,” she said in an email. “Without that, the classical form is lost and the movement looks frantic. I think that starting with the basics everyday is kind of a tool to get in the right mindset to be able to perform big later.”
Shawn Stevens, one of Cara’s ballet instructors, said Hansvick always come to class with a positive mindset and has the perfect attitude to become a professional dancer.
“She is just so believable,” Stevens said. “She loves her art and you can see it in her dancing.”
Compared to other styles of dance, Hansvick said ballet feels more like you’re sharing something.
She said that’s why her favorite part about ballet is getting to perform — she loves being able to share her love for dance and ballet with other people.
“I just love performing and when everything comes together,” Hansvick said. “You have the music and the movement and you are confident in what you’re doing.”
On stage, Hansvick said she has done her job if she can just get one more person to fall in love with dance.
“By the time you get to stage, you have to trust that your body will remember everything you’ve been rehearsing,” she said in an email. “At that point I try to just focus on enjoying it as much as possible, because I feel like if I am enjoying the movement and loving every moment, then the audience will too.”
Hansvick aspires to dance professionally for a ballet company, but she said she is also trying to keep her options open. She loves teaching dance — she even teaches an elective ballet class — and said that is something she wants to keep doing.
Eventually, she said she sees herself working administratively at a dance company.
Pursuing ballet can be very difficult at times and consists of a lot of challenging weeks, Hansvick said, but she just tries to separate the moments and motivate herself to keep doing her best.
“Every new day is a fresh start, and I know how much I love it and I know that I’ve grown so much and come so far,” she said.
Bridget Murray contributed reporting.
