MINOT — In a regular week, Brooke, Robert and Amber Shelley balance sports, homework and 19 dance classes between them.

It’s an intense schedule — but there’s still room left for a little Christmas magic.

For the third year, all three siblings are also dancing in the Maine State Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”

The two oldest have been dancing since they were 18 months old. Mom Renee Shelley believes the drive to perform is in their blood. The siblings’ great-grandmother, Gloria Aloia, was a trapeze artist. Aloia’s sister did acrobatics on horseback and her brother was shot out of a cannon in a family circus in Canada in the 1930s.

“I used to dance, I used to do gymnastics — I think that’s where we all got that talent,” Renee said. “My husband will tell you he’s got two left feet.”

In “The Nutcracker,” Brooke, 18, and Amber, 14, are mice and Russian dancers. Robert, 16, plays the father, a mouse, a Chinese soloist and a Russian soloist. They’ll perform in the run of nine shows, which started Saturday, in front of 8,000 to 10,000 people in all at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium.

That first year, Amber remembers having a little stage fright — but it’s long since passed.

At the very last minute, “I told them, ‘No, I’m sick, I can’t go on stage,'” she said. “It’s fine after two seconds. You get on and you realize you can’t even see the audience because it’s so dark.”

Brooke and Robert began dancing competitively at ages 8 and 6. Amber’s interest started in gymnastics, then extended to dance. Since the family moved to Maine in 2008, the kids have practiced at The Dance Center in Auburn.

Brooke, a senior at St. Dominic Academy, takes nine dance classes a week and helps with two others. Robert, a St. Dom’s junior, takes seven classes. Amber, a St. Dom’s freshman, takes three and spends another 24 hours a week at Andy Valley Gymnastics, honing her skills there.

Life for the family is spent on the go.

Renee remembers a school assignment years ago when the teacher asked the class to write about their favorite holiday.

“(Amber) writes, ‘Thanksgiving: We get to sit around the table together,'” Renee said. “I said, ‘Oh, my goodness — we eat in the car. We have social time in the car. We do homework in the car — our car is our second home.”

Brooke, who hopes to double major in business and dance and open her own studio, said she’s looking forward to the new Russian costumes for “The Nutcracker” this year.

For his Russian dance solo, Robert said that “they have it so it’s all jumps and turns,” which he likes.

The production this year will be his fourth with the Maine State Ballet. 

To get ready, there have been weeks of practice and many parts to memorize. Each dancer isn’t in the same spot for each of the nine shows, so they’ve got to be — in many ways — quick on their feet. 

“(The Shelleys) are all in the same piece at one point, and that’s really unusual,” said Linda Miele, artistic director of Maine State Ballet. “Sometimes you’ll have an older sibling and a younger one; it’s rare that we have three. They’re great performers, we’re so happy to have them.”

Renee said that all the performing and practice keep she and husband Glenn busy, and costs can mount for classes, travel, tickets and gas, but it’s worth it.

“Like my husband and I say, we’ll worry about it all after they’re (graduated.) We only have four more years,” she said. “It just seems like yesterday they were all little.”

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