PORTLAND – As Tchaikovsky’s familiar melody cascaded from a corner of the dance studio, Maeghan Flynn floated.

Her left leg swept the air as her dance partner seemed to pull her back to Earth. Holding each other’s arms, they spun and switched places. Then she, the petite ballerina, would bear his weight as he flew.

He was too gentle, though.

“What are you doing?” interrupted Eugenia O’Brien, artistic director of the Portland Ballet Company. The pair halted and listened, bending over slightly to catch their breaths.

“She is strong,” O’Brien said, nodding to Flynn, who smiled and playfully flexed her biceps.

“Toss each other,” O’Brien directed.

Again, the pair danced. Again, she floated. For the biggest part she ever had, Flynn could float all day.

The 18-year-old dancer from Auburn will play Vivandiere, a doll who comes to life in the Portland Ballet Company’s production of “The Victorian Nutcracker.”

For a few moments, Flynn and partner Luke Tucker will dominate the stage. She will also dance in portions of the show titled “Snow” and “Flowers.”

Family will be watching, as they have in so many performances, including a variety of “Nutcracker” productions.

“To see her do it one more time will be a kind of swan song,” said her mother, Beth Flynn. Maeghan, a senior at Edward Little High School, hasn’t decided yet whether she will pursue dance as a career.

To continue toward a professional career, she would have to give up plans to pursue a second goal: to become a dietitian, she said.

Even if she has the drive and talent to achieve in a place like New York City, she knows an injury can end a dance career. She would like to have dietetics to fall back on.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” she said, sitting in her parents’ house in Auburn. Then she paused.

“No matter what I do, I’m also going to dance,” she said.

Sacrifices

Maeghan was only 3 or 4 years old when she began taking lessons at a local studio. By the times she was 13, she had joined the Maine State Ballet. And when she entered her sophomore year at Edward Little High School, she also joined the Portland School of Ballet.

Every morning, she takes classes at Edward Little until her lunch break, just before 11 a.m. Then, she drives to Portland where she takes classes. Rehearsals for upcoming shows follow the classes.

Then, she drives home, does her homework and goes to bed.

“She’s missed out on a lot of her high school,” said her mother. She’s missed dances and football games and lazy moments with friends.

It’s been a struggle to find balance, Maeghan said.

“No matter how much sleep you get, you get tired sometimes,” the young woman said. The stress of doing so much can be tough.

But it’s worth it, she said.

The sacrifices are not lost on O’Brien, the ballet company’s director.

“She comes here every day from Auburn,” she said, watching Maeghan stretch during rehearsal. “That’s a substantial amount of drive.”

Wearing new ballet slippers, Maeghan looked like a baseball player in a new set of cleats, tapping her toes against the dance floor like Nomar Garciaparra in the batter’s box.

Then, Meagan rose onto the tips of her toes.

It’s a deceptively athletic motion, said O’Brien, who compared it to doing a handstand on the tips of one’s fingers.

“It takes enormous strength,” she said during a moment’s break in Tuesday’s rehearsal.

It was the last full rehearsal before Sunday’s show.

The production has sold out its only Lewiston performance, scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Bates College’s Schaeffer Theatre. Two more shows are planned for Dec. 4 and 5 at Merrill Auditorium in Portland.

In all, more than 55 dancers, from high school age and up, will take part. Professional dancers in the company are slated to take some of the lead roles, including the Sugarplum Fairy. However, the company works to find places for as many of the students as possible, particularly seniors such as Maeghan.

“She’s a lovely dancer,” O’Brien said.

When Sunday’s show begins, Maeghan will be ready.

“It’s my most favorite show of the year,” she said.

There will be some last minute hand-wringing, though. Maeghan typically suffers a few pre-show jitters.

“Backstage, I forget every move,” she said. “I ask everyone what to do.”

Then, the music starts and she hears her cue.

“Once I go out on the stage it all comes back,” Maeghan said.

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