When University of Alabama sophomore Danielle Heverin sold her LSU football ticket several weeks ago, she didn’t use the extra money to buy a new outfit or pay the rent.

Instead, she paid for a two-week hotel stay in Nashville, where Heverin and fellow UA student Carson Seeley performed as backup dancers on the Country Music Association Awards show and the CMA Country Christmas special.

Heverin and Seeley, both dance majors, auditioned for the job just weeks before the show.

“Our agent called us up a few days before and said that the audition was October 19,” Heverin said. “Everything in the dance world is really last minute.”

Like most auditions, Heverin said the girls were taught a 30 second routine then split into several groups to perform. Often they let the music stop, and the dancers have to freestyle.

“There’s tension in the room. Everyone wants it just as bad as you do,” she said. “You have to think about what you can do to make an impression. Then comes the worst part, waiting for days to hear if you booked the job or not.”

Heverin and Seeley booked the job and travelled to Nashville a week before the show to begin rehearsals with choreographer Barry Lather. The dancers rehearsed every day for hours.

“He just drilled us and drilled us,” Heverin said.

The two performed in the CMA Awards opening number with Blake Shelton, and later with Luke Bryan. They filmed the Country Christmas special the next day, dancing numbers with Jennifer Nettles of the band Sugarland and Kellie Pickler.

“My favorite part is the adrenaline you get before you get on stage – the seats are filled, your heart is racing,” Heverin said. “But then you get in the zone and you’re doing your thing.”

For Seeley, all the preparation and hard work almost didn’t pay off when she came down with a virus the day of the show.

“I started having some chest pains so I thought it might be stress,” she said. “I made myself eat, which made it worse. I was about to go onstage, and I was curled up in a ball it was so bad”

Thinking the adrenaline rush from performing might help her symptoms, she went onstage for the Blake Shelton song. Seeley said she felt so bad that she almost ran offstage during the first few seconds.

“After the number, I couldn’t stop throwing up,” Seeley said. “I told the choreographer I couldn’t do the Luke Bryan song. And I’m not that person that says she can’t dance because of a tummy ache.”

Heverin said she and the other dancers were trying to re-choreograph the routine without her, minutes before the song, when Seeley appeared in costume.

“I told [the choreographer] that I was going to go out there and do it,” Seeley said. “I guess it’s just the professionalism of the matter – pushing through and getting it done.”

After the song, show medics hooked Seeley up to an IV backstage. She eventually went to the hospital to have further tests done, but was well enough in the morning to film the Christmas special.

The fact that they were hard at work didn’t stop the dancers from enjoying the experience, though.

“I was having a blast,” Heverin said. “Celebrities walk by and you try to act all cool, but you really want to run up to them. Carrie Underwood was in the bathroom with me and I was just like ‘Hey, what’s up.’ It was so cool.”

Though exciting, the CMAs weren’t the girls’ first experience in the professional dance world.

Heverin and Seeley auditioned for the Atlanta based talent agency Xcel Talent Agency at the age of 16. Heverin performed with Luke Bryan on this summer’s CMT awards.

Seeley, who has performed with music artists like Beyonce, also makes several appearances in Footloose and the third installment of Martin Lawrence’s “Big Momma’s” franchise.

“I filmed Big Momma’s for five weeks during my senior year of high school,” Seeley said. “It’s tough keeping up with school work. I just tell my teachers what my situation is and most of them understand. I think it looks good for UA.”

The dancers have remained grounded despite their achievements. Seeley, a fashion merchandise and dance double major, said she keeps coming back to school after jobs so she’ll have a back up plan.

Heverin said she wants to perform as long as possible, but has plans to start her own dance studio when her own dancing days are over. She minors in business.

She said she doesn’t regret not moving to Los Angeles or New York straight out of high school like many dancers.

“They’re working as a waitress and waiting to get their first tiny extra job,” Heverin said. “But when I graduate, I’ll have a degree and have been building my resume for four years. I’ll still be new to town but at least I’ll have that.”

For both girls, dancing is a lifelong passion as well as a job. Heverin and Seeley began dancing at ages three and four.

“When she was onstage, she showed such confidence and you see and feel her love of dance performance,” said Julie Heverin, Danielle’s mother.

Both hope to continue dancing professionally: Heverin dreams of performing on Broadway in New York or as a Rockette, and Seeley plans to move to L.A. to continue performing in the entertainment industry.

“I like school,” Heverin said. “But I would love getting up and living in the studio every day.”