- 20 hours ago
Julee Wilson interviews Misty Copeland and the two ladies reminisced about the moment they first met.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00guys i'm here with a whole entire icon a whole entire icon misty motherfucking copeland
00:11okay i love you julie oh my god things are good yeah things are good i just turned 37
00:19yes we're in the 37 club together yeah yes um i don't know i just feel like more kind of not
00:26i don't want to say settled that's not like a very positive like description of what i feel but
00:32just like there's nothing subtle about your life i'm just gonna let that just like in more in
00:36control and just like kind of comfortable with like um my career and how things are going and
00:43and for the past i mean my whole career has been crazy but the past five years have been
00:46just like non-stop like you know express train insane yeah and so now i just i think i said
00:54it this morning to my husband i was like i've followed the most strict rules for 37 years of
01:00my life and i'm ready to not break out i love it i have to say this for our listeners and watchers
01:08hi um that we actually know each other right and i think that like how long now over a decade oh my
01:16god has to be like 13 years i've been in new york for like 14 and a half years and so we met shortly
01:21after that um so i want to give some context because i do count this as like such an incredible
01:27blessing that i can call you as like someone in my personal life as a friend and um so uh your
01:34husband went to law school with one of my husband's best friends and so that's how we kind of know each
01:41other and i love telling this story because we my husband was like okay we're gonna have like a
01:47double date with olu and um he's you know he's dating this girl and she's really great and i know
01:53that you love dance and she's a dancer you know she like dances in a company in the city and i was like
01:58okay and you and olu walk in and i was like i had to kick him under the table i was like this is misty
02:05copeland like stop it right now like this is not just some dancer i almost died i think i played it
02:12cool i don't think i was like i don't think i fangirled out on you for the first time um when
02:17we met but it's just been such a lovely like friendship that we've like developed over the
02:24years and this was actually and i love to say this too that it was like before all the stuff happened
02:29right and so i've counted myself lucky as someone who's been able to see like your progression and
02:37like that you've always been the kindest sweetest most humble person i know i ask you sometimes i'm
02:43like misty do you like look in the mirror and are you like i'm misty copeland like do you get up in
02:48the morning you're like i'm misty i actually i actually go for like a month sometimes without
02:52looking in the mirror i'm not kidding i'm not kidding this is not appropriate conversation
02:58i think it's like you don't look in the mirror you're stunning of all my the mirror is a part of
03:04my day like in the studio studying your body and and so when it comes to and since i was a little
03:12girl when it comes to like how i look like my face or whatever my hair i think as a black woman that
03:18was always like this got to be put together but like i've never been that girl that was like you
03:24oh my god everything has to and so like i'm so busy and i don't i don't have to like i sweat all
03:30day so i literally just throw on some clothes and go to the studio and that's true you're like in a
03:35mirror all day and so looking at your lines yeah i mean i see it more of like kind of this like far
03:40away vague thing but again like there will go literally weeks will go by and i won't look at my
03:45face up close and then i'll look one day i'll be like oh oh my god my poor husband i'm so sorry
03:50like i'm gonna wax some stuff and no but do you have like when you do look in the mirror
03:56do you have like a regimen are there like products that you use and that you love like are there any
04:03that you want to share yeah i use la mer um like face wash you're fancy i mean i haven't always that's
04:09very fancy but that's okay we know you're an icon so you're you can be fancy and put la mer on your
04:15face i used proactive for like over 10 years that was a hard transition to make though because
04:20your face gets so used to it and then it's like what are you doing to me so yeah but i i like switch
04:26it up and like we'll try different things because i think especially at this age are everything's
04:31changing and you have to kind of just go with yeah hormones everything and so um i mean but then
04:37i'll use like some duane reed like face lotion sometimes um and like different makeup products
04:42from like the corner store or something what do you use on your body because your body is a
04:47wonderland i like baby lotion oh do you use the baby like okay so there's the lotion there's the
04:55oil no oil there's the oil gel no lotion the lotion yeah just simple yeah that's such a nice baby smell
05:03to it too but i'm like a lotion freak like well i mean in the black community i mean you have to
05:09load you can't be out on these streets ashy like that's not gonna happen and especially when you're
05:13misty copeland like don't be out there with those legs ashy no no no no but again like i think i've
05:22always been this way and i don't know if it's because my mother was so adamant about like full
05:27face before she left the house no matter where she was going yes and she would get up at like six in
05:33the morning be vacuuming and putting her makeup on with those magnified mirrors with the lights around
05:37it and i think i just kind of was like that's too much i don't want to do that and so i think if
05:43anything like like now i it's important for me to have like my eyebrows shaped and like skin fresh
05:49and clean but my hair is always taken care of but when it comes to like makeup every day like it just
05:54doesn't work for my lifestyle in terms of being in the studio again and like working out eight hours
05:59a day right and like when you're on the stage you have a full beat yes i mean how long does that
06:05take do you do your own makeup no um well it depends i mean i i when you're in a company you
06:10know 90 dancers you pretty much learn as a young ballerina like they'll they'll teach you how to do
06:15your own makeup because when you're in the court of ballet you're you got to do your own makeup and
06:19you also have to know what works for your face yes so i get my my makeup done um my hair and makeup
06:26done pretty much every show but uh it depends on the role like how long it takes like sometimes we
06:31have to have a wig on sometimes it's a very like intricate hair has been like crazy headpiece
06:36um and you get to pick your own no artists and hair styles because you know i know i know i know
06:43sometimes they don't know i know and that's been that's really hard you don't have much choice in
06:48the ballet world um so no not really but the woman that i do yeah you have to and i have to just be
06:55really open about what it is you need um but the woman that does my jill haley what up jill hey jill
07:02um she's wonderful and she does my hair and makeup and she's um just really good with adapting to
07:08you know listening to me and what it is that i want and especially as a black woman i recently
07:13switched um foundations and i'm now using this uh makeup forever like stick they're great and um
07:19i actually bring it today oh it looks great you don't look like you have any makeup on oh thank
07:24you that's that's a feat that's what everyone wants like that you're wearing makeup i feel like
07:28you don't you're not i feel like my skin like gobbles up makeup so it doesn't matter how much
07:33i put on i'm like where is it no it's good but what do you also use for your curls oh my god i know
07:39we were just me and i were just having this conversation in the car i'm like i cannot wait um
07:43for oh my god for tracy ellis's i can't wait i can't wait you know she's our october cover star
07:51and i wrote the cover story and i'm trying the products and you're trying it now and i mean
07:58first of all the packaging my god i mean when you think of everything like you just want it on your
08:04vanity and then she did this editor's um preview where she actually took a shower in front of us
08:10i mean she was in a bathing suit but she like took a shower showing you no i can't wait i mean
08:16it's so hard you know it's interesting i i've not ever really worn my hair natural
08:21um which is such a thing in our community why is that because um you're always pulling it back
08:27into a bun no even before i danced i feel like it was just something that i never felt like it was
08:33beautiful you know it's like i wanted to have my hair straight i wanted to have bangs like the other
08:38like white girls around me um and i feel like it wasn't until recently because i was just i'm like
08:43i'm tired i can't do this anymore and literally just started wearing it natural but then it's like
08:48i wanted to know how like you know for the most part i'd be like if i wear it natural it's just
08:51going to be frizzy and it's a curly underneath and um i use shade uh moisture like they have like a
08:58spray that's really good um like moroccan oil i'll put in um but i'm constantly trying different
09:04things i'm really excited to try her her line but it's interesting god where was i i was somewhere
09:11oh oh i was at camp mariah oh and hey mariah carrie and it was such a moment um there are a lot of black
09:20and brown kids there and there was this like group of little black girls so we all ate dinner together
09:26like hot dogs and hamburgers and i went around to all the tables and like just chilled with all the
09:30kids there were so many of them and they're all around me and they're like oh my god we love your
09:34hair it's so beautiful and i'm like that is so amazing like i don't think i ever felt that as like
09:41a young black girl and i've never had it said to me so it just was like this moment where i was like
09:47that's so amazing that they yeah yeah i always ask people on the show podcast i feel so fancy
09:55too when i said on my podcast um this one question i want to hear your answer when did you know black
10:01was beautiful i've always like there wasn't a moment ever which is so interesting because it's
10:07like i mean i don't think i was that conscious of it i mean just the way that i was raised you know
10:14my mother but she was always just like this pro black woman um you know she was adopted by two
10:20older black uh her parents were black and she grew up in black neighborhoods my father's black
10:26and german uh but she raised me and uh for the most part my stepfather who was black uh but it was
10:32just like that's just who i was and i always like i i was shown and told that that's what beauty was
10:39and so it was just kind of ingrained in me so even though i was such a shy young girl in school
10:45whenever it came to like discussing mariah carey or like black culture or black music that was like
10:52the one time i would stand up and they'd be like who are you i'm like four foot nothing i'd be like
10:57let me tell you about but to me like that yeah i always identified with being black and um and always
11:06knew that it was beautiful it was never something i was like afraid of or hid from which is what's so
11:10interesting of coming into the ballet world i felt prepared in this odd way you know which a lot of
11:17black dancers are not you know with my identity as a black woman i felt very secure in that yeah
11:23you were actually um i just saw the first episode of mixish i don't know if you saw the thing where
11:29they well it's in the pre in the like head the preview whatever it's called what's it called
11:33yeah the trailer yes yes i saw that i was like oh my god yes because like back in the day there
11:41were very few like celebrities and people you could look up to that were mixed and or that we knew were
11:47mixed tracy's um is like you know all we had to look up to was debarge and it was like what is that
11:53looks just like my family too by the way now we have like missy a ballerina the president united
11:59states drake mariah carey yes so it's like very cool that like you're a part of this like i don't
12:07know i don't want to call it a wave because it's not a trend but this like this collection and people
12:13who can be figures right to this growing absolutely multiracial world and i think that's really
12:21difficult because it's like you either identify as black or you identify as white as a mixed person
12:28and um you know and it's hard that we've we not that we can't but like it's just kind of like
12:34not a thing to just be like i'm biracial or i'm mixed it's not really its own um you know and it's
12:40it's becoming that because we have more representation and think and it's and it's something that we
12:45talk about it's a discussion and um but i am biracial but i still say in this world that we live
12:51today like i'm a black woman um speaking of race do you does it get frustrating to you or do you still
12:58feel like it's important when people bring up your race in the in in the context of dance because
13:07that's obviously where you what what world you live in but when people are constantly what is it
13:13like to be a black ballerina and like but you know like are you like it's less people would stop
13:18no no i understand the importance of it absolutely and there's um if we were to stop talking about it
13:26that would be a problem and i you know it is what it is that i happen to be in this position and that
13:30um you know i've been able to have a platform to have a voice and to use it and so if i were to like
13:37reach this point as principal dancer and then to be like cool i'm not talking about no more like i'm
13:41just a dancer like everyone else it's like no that's not realistic that's not going to help the
13:45next generation um but no i mean i don't think i'm often asked like that because i think that's
13:50probably probably something that like a black person would ask me which i'm not often you know
13:55they'll be like what's it like to be you know in a white world but no it's more it's more like uh
14:01what what have they said or done to you and that's an important thing but it's also so
14:08uh complex that it's hard to just be like oh i was told this one day or you know get out because
14:15you're black you know it's not that simple it's like that you know macro aggression yeah yeah but
14:22do you feel like it's ever how do i put this like when people say oh like you're pretty for a black
14:27girl like is it the you're a good ballerina for black ballerinas like but do you feel like you have
14:33to fight for that recognition like i'm the best damn ballerina out in these streets last stages
14:39so what you're not gonna do no like i'm as good as becky and victoria or whatever yeah no i think
14:48that it's i think that might be more of like a battle within myself that um you know is and i don't
14:55think it will ever go away but being in this position it's like hard to separate the two things
15:00and not just being black but also having the recognition and the celebrity it's like you know
15:06you start to have i think it's normal as a human being or like as someone who's not like full of
15:11herself to be like am i being given these opportunities because of this you know i think
15:15that my i think that reaching this place in american valley theater's principal dancer without a doubt is
15:22because of my talent it is you know and and that's a that's a discussion i've had before yeah you
15:27know i've i've put in i put in almost 15 years before i was promoted and i didn't have this
15:34recognition for the first decade of my career and if anything being black will hurt you in that
15:40you know what i mean so i think that for people that just see the success it seems like you know
15:45oh well you're the one black girl and you're being seen so of course they're gonna promote you it's like
15:50no honey it was not that way like i'm legit badass would you like me to put my leg behind my head real
15:57quick for you and do like 15 pirouettes in a row before i put both my feet on the ground let's do this
16:03battle no battle no but it's um yeah i think that it's something that i definitely you know question
16:12myself like when it comes to certain opportunities um yeah yeah yeah okay let's talk a little bit about
16:20like beyond like the ballet stuff because now it's like you had this amazing milestone first black
16:29principal ballerina at abt and then the world was like miss like we are wrapped up in misty right and
16:38there was under armor and now there's estee lauder and like what other things and like how does that
16:45feel to extend and i hate to say brand because that's i know i hate it too businessy well also
16:52because everyone's using that word too everyone has a brand and so yeah and you're very thoughtful
16:58about who you partner with right you're not i'm sure there's a million people you say no to
17:03so talk a little bit yeah like about how you position yourself beyond ballet i'm so fortunate
17:09that you know my manager gilda a black woman love gilda shout out gilda gilly um that she got it you
17:19know she understood what my mission was and like my career has always been first and foremost and so
17:26you know she always saw it as this bigger opportunity for my story to be brought to more people and for it
17:32to affect the little brown and black girls and or boys and then for it to then go beyond you know
17:37color but you know i didn't necessarily see it that way so we both you know my time is limited because
17:44i'm a full-time professional ballerina and so you know and i don't ever want to be attached to something
17:51that just doesn't make sense for me and it isn't going to further my goal and so yeah it has to make
17:58sense and i'm not doing anything just for a paycheck and the brands have to understand my
18:04schedule and what it is you know i'm not just any other athlete like if i do a shoot or a commercial
18:10i have to have a floor that's built for me that i can jump on that you said athlete yeah dancers are
18:15athletes yes and but it's not as simple as like oh there's this beautiful bridge with concrete on the
18:20floor i'm like no i can't you have to you know have a sprung floor put marley on the top like there's
18:25so many did you make drake do that when you were yes i did wait did i have receipts in a whole
18:31entire drake video yes you were like drake even with drake no it's true and that was that was an
18:39interesting um you know because it was like even you know i'm like it doesn't matter who it is i'm
18:44like this is my schedule and literally like i think i gave drake like an hour and then i was like
18:49hopping on a plane to like hong kong the next day or something but i was like this is it we gotta do it
18:54go it was beautiful i had so much fun you're like a video vixen you can oh god no no you can
19:00put that on your resume video vixens have come a long way i know i know but i mean i used to look
19:05at them me too um but no i mean i thought after prince's video i'd never would do another music
19:11video and then drake called and then i was like well maybe if mariah called i might do something
19:15no we've got a short list of people you will slide into their videos but i mean you know the reason
19:21that i i liked the idea of what drake brought to us was that it was such a positive and beautiful
19:27message celebrating women um you know i wouldn't just you know i've been offered many opportunities
19:32to be alongside a list you know music and i'm like i'm not that girl that's going to be your love
19:37interest in a bra and panties in a bed no like i don't need to do that and you know but it goes back
19:43to what you were saying the thoughtfulness it's like i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this i think it's
19:47just maintaining like remembering like having integrity but also remembering the goal and what
19:54it is you're going for and not getting caught up in all of you know like the opportunities and the
19:58spotlight and i'm like to me i think because i was given a lot of these opportunities later in life
20:02like i have more of an understanding of who i am and what i'm doing and also again i'm just like i am
20:09tired i don't have time for a lot of things can you break it down because i think people know how
20:16busy you are and you know and that dancers rehearse and then they have to go and perform but like
20:22break down like a typical day when you're like right now you're in rehearsal and then you're in
20:27the performance season but like what does your day look like like what time are you getting up
20:31how much rehearsal i know so mondays are are typically like my day off and that's when i do
20:37everything outside of dance so literally my mondays are like usually booked from morning to night
20:42that's when i'm shooting under armor commercials i'm shooting uh doing interviews uh book tour
20:47signings like speaking engagements so like when that's like the day of rest for my body i'm literally
20:53still working full-time like a full day from like 8 a.m till 8 p.m probably and then my week starts
21:01it on tuesday and that's um i'm usually up by eight but it's ballet class from from 10 to 11 45
21:08and then we're in the studio rehearsing from 12 to 7 five days a week hold up rewinds 12 to 7 12 to
21:157 you are in a leotard and tights and you are spinning and twirling and doing all the things
21:21yeah that's what i'm saying like i'm not looking in a mirror in the morning i'm like i gotta go do
21:25you forget what you wore there you like in the day and you're like what was i wearing today
21:29so you obviously take a break for like lunch and like all of that really you're just dancing
21:35dancing i mean we have to buy you know um union law have like a five minute break on the hour to
21:40like use bathroom and drink some water and shove something in your mouth but there's a there you
21:45know for the past i've been a professional for almost 20 years and i'd say for the bulk of that
21:49i've had that type of schedule where i'm literally like there's no break it's really grueling and i
21:54think that's why i'm at a point where i'm just like kind of taking charge of things in a way that
22:00you know it's hard for professional dancers you don't have a lot of say when it you know and
22:05i'm very fortunate to now be in a position where i can negotiate my schedule and my contract and
22:09everything and um and just to be able to get like quality work and dance longer and do other things
22:15that i think will benefit my community and what i think where the ballet world should be going and
22:21so that's kind of where i'm at now but yeah the rehearsals the rehearsal process is like that and
22:25then when we're in performance season you're you have the same schedule from like 10 to 5 30 of
22:30rehearsal before a show and then the show starts at 7 30 so you're rehearsing all day full on see i
22:37don't think people understand it's not like a broadway it's not like i'm sleeping i'm up like
22:42two hours before the show that's typical of like again like a broadway show where you know you were
22:47in a broadway show yes on the town but you get it you you're rehearsing you're doing the same show
22:52every night so it's like you'll have the whole afternoon off for the most part and then you go in
22:55to the theater and you do your show but we're constantly putting on a different like our rep
23:01is huge so like say you're literally rehearsing up into the point of like two hours before like
23:07curtains up then you're doing your makeup putting on your yeah you might take like an hour nap
23:12yeah it's very interesting when they see these dancers on the stage to know that they've been
23:16dancing for hours and that's like a big part of like you know when like with under armor and with
23:21the commercial the very first commercial the i will what i want um was like seeing that
23:25athleticism in the studio and it's like we should be applauded because it looks so easy and that's
23:30why people think it's nothing and but there's so much you know on top of just the physical aspect of
23:37it we're doing research on the character we're getting acting lessons in theater you know like all of
23:44that stuff and so it takes a very special and unique person to get to this level as a professional
23:49dancer especially in ballet because again we're training not just able to do these incredibly
23:55incredibly physical things but also what the goal is to tell a story through our movement so if you
24:01can't act and you can't really communicate to the audience where most of them don't know the
24:04vocabulary and the language then what are we doing it for so you know we'll be in the theater until
24:1011 o'clock most nights and then we have to wake up and do it all over again so it's hard when people
24:15are like you know they come and they're like you just did a show let's go get a drink i'm like i
24:19gotta go to bed or even like it's hard you know we've definitely developed a system where
24:24i'll sign a ton of photos and to be able to give it out at the stage door but it's hard when
24:29you know i'm like not to sound like i'm comparing myself but like beyonce is not going out the stage
24:35door after her like four hour you know concert and like signing autographs and taking selfies and so
24:41i think it's hard for a lot of fans to know that to understand that it's like i'm not only am i
24:47you know getting undressed taking out my makeup off and i'm usually greeting a lot of people
24:51backstage in the theater that will last maybe up to an hour or so and then like it's hard when i can't
24:56go out there and like spend time with them because i'm like i gotta go home and get some sleep before
25:01i have to wake up and do it all over again yeah so it's it's hard it's a hard balance but my team has
25:06been amazing and really finding a balance you know if it's a big crowd i'll go out there and at least
25:10just say hi and talk to them and go back in and get and they'll pass out signed photographs but
25:14but it's also just the education right even you're just talking about it now i don't think i think
25:18that's huge discovery for people to know that there's hours of you dancing before you get on stage
25:24and then you you're like i gotta get to bed so it's not like yeah let's party let's do shots let's get on
25:30no literally as soon as the makeup comes off it's like you're getting into like cool down mode
25:37um to be able to like go to bed because it's hard after performance you have all that adrenaline
25:41going um but that's a typical day and you know and then i'll have days again like you know with
25:46things like the drake commercial um commercial the drake video where like things come up and i'm like
25:51this is a great opportunity let's squeeze it in it's like i'll i literally finished an eight hour
25:55rehearsal day hopped in a car sweaty ran over to this club up and down reshot it and like hair and
26:02makeup go literally like listening to the song trying to like get familiar with the lyrics
26:06and then like boom we this is how much time you have to record okay bye i gotta go pack and get
26:10on a plane and then you just like choreograph that on the spot i just improv yeah i just improvise
26:15yeah sis are you serious so what do you do when you do i know you said your down day is monday but
26:22that's not a down day because you're like i'm doing all the things sundays but like um what do you do
26:27are you with hubby are you going to the spa are you getting rubbed down do you get rubbed down on like
26:33a daily basis because that's a lot yeah but it's not what people think it's not like fun rubbed down
26:37no it's like pain it's it's so crazy it's like the work never ends the pain and the work that goes
26:42into taking care of my body is just as much as the work i'm doing on my body like to train um so when
26:49i have my body work done i mean it's not to feel good it's to literally like release all of the muscles
26:55so that i can have like a clean slate so that my body is really like uh balanced so that when i start
27:01training again like the body is just so complicated and it doesn't matter how much you train you wake
27:06up the next morning and you it's like who what whose body is this it's like one thing can get
27:11tight and be out of place and it's like you have to adjust your training to that so you're not going
27:16to like a spa to get like their swedish massage you're going to like no i have professionals that
27:21are like yes that work with professional athletes yes but i do love a spa oh i love a spa do you like
27:27getting your like like what do you like getting your like nails no i don't do like mani pedis so
27:32not a girly girl like that and what about your feet because that's no no no i'm like when people
27:36come on shoots when i'm like literally there's i'm always doing so much it's like hair is being done
27:41makeup is being done i'm like literally closed eyes like signing autograph things and then like i feel
27:46the like nail lady going by my foot i'm like no really you don't let them know i know that's very
27:52important and you know that like ballerina feet are notoriously like like messed up but like are
28:00you like don't touch my feet i know exactly what my feet need to feel like and do in these point
28:05yeah i mean the reason that you train you know for so many years first of all before you even put
28:11pointe shoes on you have to have so much training under your belt um and then once you get them on
28:16you know people always say my feet your feet bleed and it isn't like in the beginning some
28:20people's do but you have to to um develop an armor i call it and so when that's why we build
28:26up calluses and all of these things so that it protects us so that we can file them down no don't
28:31like do not touch my feet because like it would literally be like a baby skin and like starting over
28:37and it is so painful so even if i'm taking like a week or two vacation i bring my pointe shoes with me
28:43and i literally just wear them around the hotel like slippers just to keep them like tough because if you
28:49don't and you go back to rehearsals like it is painful i love that yeah so you just are like in
28:55the lobby like i look crazy pointe shoes like can i get some more fresh towel i look so crazy on your
29:01toes i look so crazy i love that though and you are wearing the sickest lubes right now they're like
29:08five inch oh look at this leg misty i guess um i'm not gonna do it yes i am yeah you she's girl come on
29:19but it's it's fine we're we're up here lifting our legs i used to i mean once a dancer always a dancer
29:26i do still consider my dancing yeah yeah you know i'm no misty copeland but um i try um but you
29:34you and these feet too like you would think you're dancing all day on your toes that you would be in
29:39some fierce like almost orthopedic type like flats or something but you're over here traipsing around
29:47still on your toes i know so i feel like so just because of the way my like feet and legs are shaped
29:53it's always been really um like it's been comfortable up until i turned maybe like 32 i was
30:00like uh only if i can put them on and then sit from a car to a seat but but your arches must be
30:08like i need to not be flat yeah well but now i'm like a tennis girl i never thought i'd be a tennis
30:15girl i mean like cute tennis shoes like cute cute no no cute no what do they call them bobos like the
30:22okay yeah what do they call them like grandpa sneakers yeah i mean right like real cute ones yeah
30:27an underarm or like a cute like designer or something but no but yeah it's it's hard like
30:33the older i get and especially after i had surgery on my leg like after i you know i have a titanium
30:38plate in my tibia i know and six screws it's crazy but once i did that like the pressure of being on
30:46your toes put so much more pressure on the front of my shin so i was like i can't do this yeah but i
30:52still love a heel yeah yeah know what changed my feet having orion having it was like i wanted to
30:58be in heels all the time and i still love a heel don't get me wrong but like did your feet spread
31:03did they get yeah um my whole my foot grew a whole oh my god there's i literally like 75 i have crazy
31:12amount of shoes because i'm just a shoe girl no i i'm just willing my foot to shrink i don't know like
31:18i don't want to get take it to a stretcher like but that doesn't always work because i'm like okay
31:23first of all i'm like those are manolos that i bought at the sample sale for like a hundred dollars
31:28and i'm not and they're like mary jay manolos like no and then i'm like or i wore those to my like
31:33graduation so i don't want to give them up but what's that show you okay i was like
31:40can i borrow them no yeah i have a big foot damn what's your foot size i'm an eight i'm only five
31:47two that's big that's huge which works for ballet it like extends my line and makes it longer and
31:53and then like when i'm on point i can partner with taller guys but then it's like really tricky for
31:58them because as soon as i come down they're like whoa whoa what happened where are you yeah but wait
32:04speaking of size like i was telling this to the girls earlier i was like it's so funny when people talk
32:10about your body obviously in in the field right because they're like she's so curvy and you would
32:15think that godzilla was about to like literally leap across the the stage meanwhile i can put you in my
32:22whole entire pocket like you're so petite and tiny but i get the fact that on this petite frame there's
32:30like the calves the the breast yes the bottom i think in proportion like proportionately i'm proportionate
32:36but like in terms of i mean it also says a lot about the conversation with um body image and race
32:42and but the ballet world um and you know when you when it comes in the package of brown skin
32:47and then it's too big all of a sudden she's muscular and brown and all the things and she's got more
32:53boobs she's got more than a handful of boob like it's like what you would think though the way they
32:58describe it and then when you see yourself in person it's like she's so petite and she gives you
33:04ballerina but i guess compared to all of like the very well i think it's um i think on stage you know
33:12like i appear bigger um but again it's also like it's a way of excluding us in the ballet world
33:20because that language is acceptable um to be able to say sorry you don't have the right body it's all
33:27about your aesthetic you know it's like being a model and so it's easy to say that you're you know
33:34and you can't argue it's like well that's their opinion and you know but um in reality i'm like
33:40even next to the girls that i dance with i'm still really small and so it's like it's important to have
33:46those conversations as well and like there's girls in the company that are much bigger than me that have
33:51larger breasts and maybe don't have the ideal physique for ballet like people say and um but yet
33:59i'm being told i have the wrong body so it just says so much about um the ballet world and how they've
34:05gotten away with excluding us for so long have you feel like it's changed since you've been so
34:13present and vocal and like in the space talking about it do you think not only body image wise but
34:20like race wise do you see it getting better because that the ballet industry is i'm like i'm not you
34:26know as much as i put the energy into it and i never will stop like i'm not going to sugarcoat it or lie
34:31like no it's so so slow but i think it's our responsibility my responsibility at least to keep
34:38the conversation going because this conversation has been being had from the time ballet started it's
34:44just that it kind of comes and goes and no one's there to like keep the pressure on the ballet world
34:48um and i think that because i've been at the forefront speaking about this so often that
34:54they're being looked at now by the broader world not just our little niche like bubble that we live in
34:59and so a lot of companies are being forced to address this issue even if they don't want to
35:06um so i slowly have seen like a change um when it comes to seeing people of color in other companies
35:13including in europe which people would think like oh it's it's probably not as bad there it is
35:18it's it's as bad in ballet companies really yeah but hopefully it'll get never gonna stop i'm never
35:25gonna stop i have so many things in in the works that were you know that i'm really excited about
35:30ballet will always be a part of my my life and um and just promoting more diversity um and it's exciting
35:38to be able to like be kind of transitioning into different um kind of genres of of art um that i'm
35:45really excited about i have a production company that i started about four or five years ago and so
35:49to be able to use all of these different i don't know platforms and avenues um to bring ballet and um
35:58to more people is i'm just really excited i love that i know so you are very private and i love i love that
36:07about you because like i said before i'm always like missy do you know who you are um like it's
36:12so crazy but um what does it feel like now to like not really be able to walk down the street
36:17we talked about this when i wrote your essence cover story but like so now i think it's so possible
36:24like to make your life what you want it to be i truly believe that i mean clearly i
36:30autonomy i you know i feel like it's how you carry yourself that you know people will respect
36:41your boundaries it's how you treat people it's um not putting yourself in a position if you don't
36:48want to be seen like you know don't go to like the hottest place for lunch and be like decked out i
36:54wouldn't be going out in these you know what i mean it's like on a daily like i am very casual i always
37:00have like a hoodie so i can just like throw it on if i need to it's so um it's possible to do it
37:07um but yeah i mean i've i've even heard like different like you know a-list celebrity like
37:12um actors and actresses that like they live a life that they want you know and that they are they're
37:17not putting themselves in those situations but it's you know it comes with the territory and i think
37:22that you know there's a balance and it's all it's a discussion i have i often have it with my
37:27cousin with tay diggs with olu's and and just you know what is when you when you're in a career like
37:35this and you know it's kind of a part of what comes with it so what do you want people to know
37:43about you that they don't already know right we've seen the documentary we've seen like the news like
37:51you know clips and that sort of thing but like i said you are such a unique person behind the scenes
37:58and just so lovely um and i like i said have been blessed to know that misty but what do you want
38:06like the world to know and especially these you know essence listeners these are black girls out there
38:11who look up to you and that sort of thing but don't only know what the world shows of them of you
38:17what do you want them to know um i think that no matter where this amazing art form takes me
38:27that it's important to be surrounded by people that i truly truly trust and um that keep me
38:35balanced and grounded and um i'm i love to be at home i love to cook i feel like i'm so silly and
38:44ridiculous like all the time that people probably wouldn't like assume um i yeah i but again like i
38:51keep a really small circle of friends around me and i like quality time with people like as much as
38:59you know i'm a performer and i'm on stage i've never been that girl like even as a little girl
39:03it was shocking for my family to know like oh you want to go on stage in front of thousands of people
39:07but like in my life i'm not that girl that's like the center of attention in a room or
39:12i just like it really low-key um casual you know put on some cute pumps and have a cocktail but keep
39:20it like chill um and just yeah i mean i feel like who i am in the public is like who i am in my life
39:28to some extent um and you know as much as i champion diversity and you know that's my everyday life
39:36and um just to you know i mentor a lot of young dancers and and um especially brown dancers and
39:45so that's kind of like what i do you know whether it's having one of my little mentees over and us
39:51like chatting and cooking together like that's kind of just my life i love it well we love you
39:57thank you so much for coming yay i love you
40:06you
40:08you
40:09you
40:11you
40:13you
40:15you
40:17you
Comments