you kind of have to just dive into
everyday like this is the last time I’m
going to do this I think that’s how you
become the best I just worked so hard to
prove that my talent was enough that I
didn’t have to fit into this box and
this mold of what everyone thinks of
which is listen to anything you want
even if you’re being told negative
things the students stay strong and and
high motivation she’s an American ballet
dancer she rose to stardom despite not
starting ballet until the age of 13 in
addition to her dance career she’s
become a public speaker and stage
performer she’s misty Copeland and
here’s my take on our top 10 rules for
success
rule number one is my personal favorite
and I’d love to know which one you guys
like the best and as always as you’re
watching if you hear something that
really resonates with you please leave
in the comments below full surrender to
other people can be inspired as well and
when you write it down it’s much more
likely to stick with you as well enjoy
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
I haven’t had the typical path of most
dancers and especially as a professional
dancer to be in the corps de ballet and
to be a soloist and for as long as I was
and to then get my first big break doing
a principal role that’s not typical
usually if that doesn’t happen early on
in your career that path is kind of shut
down for you to ever become a principal
dancer so I knew that when Alexei
Ratmansky the choreographer
choreographer in residence at abt and
the choreographer of Firebird when he
gave me the opportunity to learn the
role I knew that this was kind of my
last opportunity to prove at 29 years
old that I’m capable of still being able
to develop into an artist that can carry
an entire company on my shoulders as a
principal dancer and so I just kind of
went into it like headfirst and worked
so incredibly hard didn’t take any days
off which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone
and during that process of having
Firebird created for me I developed six
stress fractures in my tibia
say that again six fractures yes your
tibia yes you still dad strong and did
that the night of the performance yes I
didn’t know the severity of the injury
and I think that was kind of a way of
protecting myself that I didn’t want to
know how badly I was injured and so I
pushed through for as long as I could I
knew that I had to get a couple of shows
under my belt and prove that I was
capable you talk about this confidence
as perseverance you didn’t want to let
people down but still most of us feel
that way but may not have a you know the
whatever it takes to get through it I
think a lot of it is being
african-american and having the
struggles and the experiences that I’ve
had and seeing all of the people that
seeing me on the stage have how it’s
affected them that’s what kept me going
on those days when I couldn’t physically
walk when I had doubts and thought like
why am i fighting so hard I might not
ever be able to jump again why am i
doing this and it was those little brown
girls it was those girls in the audience
that were there the night of Firebird
that made me feel that I was going to do
it matter what physical obstacles I felt
I was going to find a way around it
because what was possible for me to
create could change the future for so
many young dancers and it just makes you
superhuman when you feel that relations
that let me feel that on it but I didn’t
feel it is weight it felt like this
amazing support and energy from you know
all of these people that are there to
support me and that we’re watching me
because I was treating a path for them I
think that when I was younger I was you
know you get so like antsy and you just
want the good things to come and it’s
hard to enjoy the process and I think
that something that I really understand
and appreciate now I mean my life is so
chaotic with just being busy all the
time that I literally just take
everything one step at a time like even
when I’m on the stage and I’m like I
can’t think about third act I’m in
second act now and I’m going to think
about the piqué arabesque I’m about to
do not about the you know the the
pirouettes I’m going to do two seconds
so it’s literally just like taking
everything you know just pacing yourself
and one thing at a time so when I for
some reason felt that I had this small
bit of confidence to audition for the
drill team and I made sure I was
auditioning for captain not just to be a
part of the team which is not that was
not something that I normally did in my
life like step outside of my comfort
zone and do something right was
being put out in front of people but
Aisha and they made me captain and the
drill team coach Elizabeth cam Tyne saw
something in me immediately she saw an
ability that I had my body proportions
and she thought you are a ballerina
and I want to introduce you to someone
who’s giving a free ballet class at the
Boys and Girls Club that she already
attends so I was not at all interested
in ballet but after about a week of
hiding out in the back of this ballet
class on the basketball court the
teacher Cynthia Bradley pulled me on and
I took my first class and socks and
shorts and a t-shirt I think that if we
woke up every morning and we looked at
our day or our careers as though
something was going to go wrong or
something could happen we couldn’t reach
our fullest potential you kind of have
to just dive into every day like this is
the last time I’m going to do this I
think that’s how you become the best
that’s how you become your best self and
you know I don’t step on to the stage
thinking I might fall tonight it’s like
I’m going to go for it and if I fall how
am I going to recover and you know
that’s kind of the approach that you
have to have especially when you’re at
this level that you can’t think about
you know what if what if but yeah goes
wrong and just keep striving I think
it’s important to be passionate about
what you do but know that it doesn’t
come without hard work success doesn’t
come without sacrifice and
it’s a beautiful thing when you put all
that work into what you’re passionate
about and you can sit back and enjoy the
fruits of your labor you know I can’t
say where where I will go next but I
know that ballet will take me everywhere
that I can imagine dreaming of going and
it’s pretty awesome there were other
issues too right with your body type
because you’re very athletic
okay she’s so tiny sitting next to me
but you’re incredibly athletic and that
also created some problems right yeah
they’re just the the I guess you could
call them setbacks but I overcame them
they just continue to come you know once
I became a professional I all of a
sudden matured into this curvy woman
with a bust and with more muscle and all
of those things also are not thought of
as a ballerina and I just worked so hard
to prove that my talent was enough that
I didn’t have to fit into this box and
this mold of what everyone thinks of
which is a white woman with no chest and
no muscle and I was everything that that
wasn’t being a black ballerina
definitely is everything in my life and
my past as a ballerina would be
completely different if I wasn’t an
african-american woman it has provided
more obstacles than I think I knew when
I discovered ballet at 13 years old but
at the same time it’s made me want to
persevere even more and I can get made
me a stronger person because of it and I
have so many more obstacles to overcome
but I
we love classical ballet you’ve
accomplished so much at this point in
your career what is your driving force
and what is it that keeping you going
every single day well the thing is I
have so much more I want to accomplish
so I think that as a ballet dancer
you’re constantly being pushed to kind
of stay on top of your game and you know
with so many younger dancers that
continue to come into the company it’s
like you have to keep up with them I
mean every generation gets better and so
that’s constantly like pushing me and I
just love what I do and I think as
dancers we’re constantly striving for
perfection and that’s never going to
happen so it’s just going to keep us
going and going but you know I have so
many new roles coming up that I’m
excited about
so that’s keeping me motivated and of
course being a principal dancer that’s
my number one goal I understand the
importance of me having a voice and
exposing people beyond you know the
typical ballet world to this art form I
think it saved my life and I want to
introduce it to more people and you know
coming full circle that’s something that
I’m trying to do now is to give back to
those communities through Boys and Girls
Clubs being an alum to invite people
into my world as it’s happening I think
it’s really amazing to have grown men
that you know never seen a ballet in
their life look at me and see a woman
that they can relate to someone who
looks like their sister their daughter
or their mother and to say well I’m
going to put my child in that because
they can see themselves through you I
think it’s creating a completely
different path for these people that
never saw themselves
and to wash me still growing and on my
path I think is really powerful I was
very open to accepting guidance and I
think that that something that you
really have to be vulnerable and open to
or these people will just kind of pass
by and they don’t enter your life when
they should be and Prince came into my
life I think I was around 27 I’m 31 now
and he thought I was extremely talented
and wanted me to dance in one of his
music videos which I thought was odd so
when I met him I saw this incredible
human I didn’t know him as Prince this
big star I met him and I spent a lot of
time with him as an individual and I
learned so much about myself and about
again just being even more vulnerable I
think to in order to grow as an artist
you really have to have that side of
yourself be open you can do anything you
want even if you’re being told negative
things
stay strong and find motivation I’m 5-2
I start around 39 black there’s so many
things but I’ve made it happen
I’m very lucky to be where I am but it
it’s a it’s possible
[Music]
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because
Tigerlily asked me to also if you want
to nominate someone for the next top 10
video please check the description for a
link to a video where you can vote for
people and put in your suggestions as
well I’d love to know what did you take
from this video what was the most
important lesson that you learned that
blew your mind that you’re going to
immediately apply to your life or your
business somehow please leave it down in
the comments below I’m super curious to
find out I also want to give a quick
shout out to William and Tim from
Project authenticity org thank you guys
so much for picking up a copy of my book
your one word taking the picture making
the blogpost I really appreciate the
support and I’m glad you enjoyed the
read so thank you guys again for
watching I believe in you I hope you
continue to believe in yourself and
whatever your one word is much love I’ll
see you soon
I think there’s no real way of preparing
for something that seems scary I think
it’s really important for a young person
to not set limits on what their dreams
are if they have something in their mind
and they feel strongly without it give
it your all
before I danced I was extremely shy and
I literally wouldn’t speak and I was
terrified too and my way of
communicating started out by writing in
journals with the opportunity of writing
life and motion and firebird it’s kind
of taking me to the next level and I’m
just getting better and better about
feeling confident about how I
communicate things and it’s extremely
different writing but it all kind of
ties into the same thing I think that
this experience has made me a better
performer it took a while to really find
myself and to find the right I don’t
know just way of taking care of your
body I’m sure every professional dancer
goes through that and you know becoming
going from being a teenager to an adult
and your body changes and also I think
that my body type is very different from
a lot of the dancers that I definitely
so like I was saying it just took me
just accepting that I am beautiful and
then I have this body and just accepting
me for me and I think that’s when I
really found this confidence that I
could go onstage and I mean I think
Kevin the director saw that as well and
I think that’s when he promoted me and I
think that’s when I started getting
getting more opportunities
everyday like this is the last time I’m
going to do this I think that’s how you
become the best I just worked so hard to
prove that my talent was enough that I
didn’t have to fit into this box and
this mold of what everyone thinks of
which is listen to anything you want
even if you’re being told negative
things the students stay strong and and
high motivation she’s an American ballet
dancer she rose to stardom despite not
starting ballet until the age of 13 in
addition to her dance career she’s
become a public speaker and stage
performer she’s misty Copeland and
here’s my take on our top 10 rules for
success
rule number one is my personal favorite
and I’d love to know which one you guys
like the best and as always as you’re
watching if you hear something that
really resonates with you please leave
in the comments below full surrender to
other people can be inspired as well and
when you write it down it’s much more
likely to stick with you as well enjoy
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
I haven’t had the typical path of most
dancers and especially as a professional
dancer to be in the corps de ballet and
to be a soloist and for as long as I was
and to then get my first big break doing
a principal role that’s not typical
usually if that doesn’t happen early on
in your career that path is kind of shut
down for you to ever become a principal
dancer so I knew that when Alexei
Ratmansky the choreographer
choreographer in residence at abt and
the choreographer of Firebird when he
gave me the opportunity to learn the
role I knew that this was kind of my
last opportunity to prove at 29 years
old that I’m capable of still being able
to develop into an artist that can carry
an entire company on my shoulders as a
principal dancer and so I just kind of
went into it like headfirst and worked
so incredibly hard didn’t take any days
off which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone
and during that process of having
Firebird created for me I developed six
stress fractures in my tibia
say that again six fractures yes your
tibia yes you still dad strong and did
that the night of the performance yes I
didn’t know the severity of the injury
and I think that was kind of a way of
protecting myself that I didn’t want to
know how badly I was injured and so I
pushed through for as long as I could I
knew that I had to get a couple of shows
under my belt and prove that I was
capable you talk about this confidence
as perseverance you didn’t want to let
people down but still most of us feel
that way but may not have a you know the
whatever it takes to get through it I
think a lot of it is being
african-american and having the
struggles and the experiences that I’ve
had and seeing all of the people that
seeing me on the stage have how it’s
affected them that’s what kept me going
on those days when I couldn’t physically
walk when I had doubts and thought like
why am i fighting so hard I might not
ever be able to jump again why am i
doing this and it was those little brown
girls it was those girls in the audience
that were there the night of Firebird
that made me feel that I was going to do
it matter what physical obstacles I felt
I was going to find a way around it
because what was possible for me to
create could change the future for so
many young dancers and it just makes you
superhuman when you feel that relations
that let me feel that on it but I didn’t
feel it is weight it felt like this
amazing support and energy from you know
all of these people that are there to
support me and that we’re watching me
because I was treating a path for them I
think that when I was younger I was you
know you get so like antsy and you just
want the good things to come and it’s
hard to enjoy the process and I think
that something that I really understand
and appreciate now I mean my life is so
chaotic with just being busy all the
time that I literally just take
everything one step at a time like even
when I’m on the stage and I’m like I
can’t think about third act I’m in
second act now and I’m going to think
about the piqué arabesque I’m about to
do not about the you know the the
pirouettes I’m going to do two seconds
so it’s literally just like taking
everything you know just pacing yourself
and one thing at a time so when I for
some reason felt that I had this small
bit of confidence to audition for the
drill team and I made sure I was
auditioning for captain not just to be a
part of the team which is not that was
not something that I normally did in my
life like step outside of my comfort
zone and do something right was
being put out in front of people but
Aisha and they made me captain and the
drill team coach Elizabeth cam Tyne saw
something in me immediately she saw an
ability that I had my body proportions
and she thought you are a ballerina
and I want to introduce you to someone
who’s giving a free ballet class at the
Boys and Girls Club that she already
attends so I was not at all interested
in ballet but after about a week of
hiding out in the back of this ballet
class on the basketball court the
teacher Cynthia Bradley pulled me on and
I took my first class and socks and
shorts and a t-shirt I think that if we
woke up every morning and we looked at
our day or our careers as though
something was going to go wrong or
something could happen we couldn’t reach
our fullest potential you kind of have
to just dive into every day like this is
the last time I’m going to do this I
think that’s how you become the best
that’s how you become your best self and
you know I don’t step on to the stage
thinking I might fall tonight it’s like
I’m going to go for it and if I fall how
am I going to recover and you know
that’s kind of the approach that you
have to have especially when you’re at
this level that you can’t think about
you know what if what if but yeah goes
wrong and just keep striving I think
it’s important to be passionate about
what you do but know that it doesn’t
come without hard work success doesn’t
come without sacrifice and
it’s a beautiful thing when you put all
that work into what you’re passionate
about and you can sit back and enjoy the
fruits of your labor you know I can’t
say where where I will go next but I
know that ballet will take me everywhere
that I can imagine dreaming of going and
it’s pretty awesome there were other
issues too right with your body type
because you’re very athletic
okay she’s so tiny sitting next to me
but you’re incredibly athletic and that
also created some problems right yeah
they’re just the the I guess you could
call them setbacks but I overcame them
they just continue to come you know once
I became a professional I all of a
sudden matured into this curvy woman
with a bust and with more muscle and all
of those things also are not thought of
as a ballerina and I just worked so hard
to prove that my talent was enough that
I didn’t have to fit into this box and
this mold of what everyone thinks of
which is a white woman with no chest and
no muscle and I was everything that that
wasn’t being a black ballerina
definitely is everything in my life and
my past as a ballerina would be
completely different if I wasn’t an
african-american woman it has provided
more obstacles than I think I knew when
I discovered ballet at 13 years old but
at the same time it’s made me want to
persevere even more and I can get made
me a stronger person because of it and I
have so many more obstacles to overcome
but I
we love classical ballet you’ve
accomplished so much at this point in
your career what is your driving force
and what is it that keeping you going
every single day well the thing is I
have so much more I want to accomplish
so I think that as a ballet dancer
you’re constantly being pushed to kind
of stay on top of your game and you know
with so many younger dancers that
continue to come into the company it’s
like you have to keep up with them I
mean every generation gets better and so
that’s constantly like pushing me and I
just love what I do and I think as
dancers we’re constantly striving for
perfection and that’s never going to
happen so it’s just going to keep us
going and going but you know I have so
many new roles coming up that I’m
excited about
so that’s keeping me motivated and of
course being a principal dancer that’s
my number one goal I understand the
importance of me having a voice and
exposing people beyond you know the
typical ballet world to this art form I
think it saved my life and I want to
introduce it to more people and you know
coming full circle that’s something that
I’m trying to do now is to give back to
those communities through Boys and Girls
Clubs being an alum to invite people
into my world as it’s happening I think
it’s really amazing to have grown men
that you know never seen a ballet in
their life look at me and see a woman
that they can relate to someone who
looks like their sister their daughter
or their mother and to say well I’m
going to put my child in that because
they can see themselves through you I
think it’s creating a completely
different path for these people that
never saw themselves
and to wash me still growing and on my
path I think is really powerful I was
very open to accepting guidance and I
think that that something that you
really have to be vulnerable and open to
or these people will just kind of pass
by and they don’t enter your life when
they should be and Prince came into my
life I think I was around 27 I’m 31 now
and he thought I was extremely talented
and wanted me to dance in one of his
music videos which I thought was odd so
when I met him I saw this incredible
human I didn’t know him as Prince this
big star I met him and I spent a lot of
time with him as an individual and I
learned so much about myself and about
again just being even more vulnerable I
think to in order to grow as an artist
you really have to have that side of
yourself be open you can do anything you
want even if you’re being told negative
things
stay strong and find motivation I’m 5-2
I start around 39 black there’s so many
things but I’ve made it happen
I’m very lucky to be where I am but it
it’s a it’s possible
[Music]
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because
Tigerlily asked me to also if you want
to nominate someone for the next top 10
video please check the description for a
link to a video where you can vote for
people and put in your suggestions as
well I’d love to know what did you take
from this video what was the most
important lesson that you learned that
blew your mind that you’re going to
immediately apply to your life or your
business somehow please leave it down in
the comments below I’m super curious to
find out I also want to give a quick
shout out to William and Tim from
Project authenticity org thank you guys
so much for picking up a copy of my book
your one word taking the picture making
the blogpost I really appreciate the
support and I’m glad you enjoyed the
read so thank you guys again for
watching I believe in you I hope you
continue to believe in yourself and
whatever your one word is much love I’ll
see you soon
I think there’s no real way of preparing
for something that seems scary I think
it’s really important for a young person
to not set limits on what their dreams
are if they have something in their mind
and they feel strongly without it give
it your all
before I danced I was extremely shy and
I literally wouldn’t speak and I was
terrified too and my way of
communicating started out by writing in
journals with the opportunity of writing
life and motion and firebird it’s kind
of taking me to the next level and I’m
just getting better and better about
feeling confident about how I
communicate things and it’s extremely
different writing but it all kind of
ties into the same thing I think that
this experience has made me a better
performer it took a while to really find
myself and to find the right I don’t
know just way of taking care of your
body I’m sure every professional dancer
goes through that and you know becoming
going from being a teenager to an adult
and your body changes and also I think
that my body type is very different from
a lot of the dancers that I definitely
so like I was saying it just took me
just accepting that I am beautiful and
then I have this body and just accepting
me for me and I think that’s when I
really found this confidence that I
could go onstage and I mean I think
Kevin the director saw that as well and
I think that’s when he promoted me and I
think that’s when I started getting
getting more opportunities
Please follow and like us: