You can often find Anna Lopez, a 21-year-old dance major at Palomar College, on the second level of Palomar’s Performing Arts Center, dressed in her warm up gear with music blaring from her headphones, preparing to begin her daily training.

Lopez is currently double majoring at Palomar College, as she aspires to obtain both her associate’s degree in dance and as an American Sign Language translator.

Lopez has been dancing for 13 years and originally trained in ballet. However, Lopez later realized that contemporary and modern dance were a better fit for her as a dancer. She is now training to be a professional dancer in a contemporary dance company, and later on hopes to become a dance teacher.

“I want people to be able to see the emotion,” Lopez said when asked what she wants audiences to take away from her dancing. “I just want people to love dance whether they are dancing or aren’t dancing.”

Dancers often have pre-show rituals and superstitions, and Lopez likes to prepare for a show by arriving early in warm clothes, with lots of snacks for energy, followed by a solid warm up. This ensures that she will put on a good show.

“I broke my left foot twice,” Lopez said. “If I don’t warm up or stretch enough I definitely am concerned I could injure myself or I can’t dance my best, and I always want to be at my best performance.”

For any aspiring dancer out there Lopez has one piece of advice, which is to “never stop dancing.”