Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 211. Harper Watters, Soloist For The Houston Ballet

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211. Harper Watters, Soloist For The Houston Ballet · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

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Speaker 1: Your uniqueness of strength. The qualities that you possess that
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Speaker 1: you feel are different, that you want to turn down,
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Speaker 1: are actually the ones that you should turn up.
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Speaker 2: What is going on Hurdler's Emily a body here with
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Speaker 2: episode two hundred and eleven of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast,
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Speaker 2: reconnected with everyone from your favorite athletes to top experts
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Speaker 2: in industry CEOs about their highest ties, toughest moments, and.
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Speaker 3: Everything in between.
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Speaker 2: We all go through hurdles in life, and my goal
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Speaker 2: through these discussions is to empower you to better navigate
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Speaker 2: yours and move with intention so that you can stride
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Speaker 2: towards your own big potential and of course have some
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Speaker 2: fun along the way.
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Speaker 3: Man.
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Speaker 2: I hope everyone had an excellent holiday week again. I
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Speaker 2: myself enjoyed some time here at home prepping to head
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Speaker 2: out soon to the World A Track.
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Speaker 3: And Field Championships out in Eugene, Oregon.
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Speaker 2: I have some details coming about hurdler meetups hangings. If
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Speaker 2: anyone's going to be in town, I hope to see
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Speaker 2: you there. I am going to be doing some hosting
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Speaker 2: for a six on the ground and I could not
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Speaker 2: be more amped.
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Speaker 3: I am also amped.
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Speaker 2: About today's conversation, I am chatting with the one, the only,
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Speaker 2: Harper Waters. Harper Waters and unbelievable dancer, a first soloist
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Speaker 2: for the Houston Ballet, and I absolutely loved the opportunity
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Speaker 2: to sit down with Harper because as a gay African
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Speaker 2: American ballet dancer, he is making waves.
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Speaker 3: That is such an understatement.
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Speaker 2: In today's episode, he talks about how he's truly hoping
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Speaker 2: to open doors for the next generation and inspire them
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Speaker 2: to try whatever it is that lights them on fire.
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Speaker 2: We chat about his journey, detailing everything from coming out
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Speaker 2: to his family at fourteen to working his butt off
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Speaker 2: to get to where he is in the Houston Ballet,
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Speaker 2: what it was like for him as a performer to
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Speaker 2: navigate the last few years in a pandemic, and how
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Speaker 2: he used that time to level up on social media,
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Speaker 2: amassing hundreds of thousands of followers across Instagram and TikTok,
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Speaker 2: doing things that he loves, like casually walking on a
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Speaker 2: treadmill in heels. Yeah, I'll link that, I'll time in
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Speaker 2: the show notes today. There are so many really great
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Speaker 2: takeaways in this conversation, but what I really really love
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Speaker 2: is this throat line of feeling the fear.
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Speaker 3: And doing it anyway.
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Speaker 2: I love what Harper says about if you're scared to
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Speaker 2: face something head on and so often. I mean, that's
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Speaker 2: something that we all feel, right, if you're scared, it's
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Speaker 2: not something to run from because that fear can be
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Speaker 2: your teacher. I'm telling you, great episode, great combo. A
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Speaker 2: huge thank you to Harper for your time, as you'll
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Speaker 2: fear at the top end of this. We did record
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Speaker 2: this in June, so naturally we had to touch on
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Speaker 2: all things pride. Make sure you're following along with the
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Speaker 2: show over on social It is at Hurdle Podcast. I
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Speaker 2: am over at Emily a Body And if you're listening
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Speaker 2: to this and you haven't ready and reviewed the show yet,
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Speaker 2: I don't know what you are waiting for.
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Speaker 3: Seriously, go do it. Give it five stars. Tell the
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Speaker 3: people why you love.
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Speaker 2: Hurdle and what keeps you coming back week after week,
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Speaker 2: and for that I am so so thankful with that.
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Speaker 3: Let's get to hurdling today. I am sitting down with
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Speaker 3: Harper Waters. He is the.
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Speaker 2: First soloist for the Houston Ballet. How you doing today,
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Speaker 2: I'm doing so well. Thank you so much for having me.
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Speaker 3: I am so excited to have you here today.
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Speaker 2: I feel like I was looking for a dose of
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Speaker 2: sunshine and I know that you're here to bring.
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Speaker 3: It for me.
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Speaker 1: Yes, I'm bringing the Houston sunshine, which means it's bright
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Speaker 1: and hot hot.
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Speaker 3: What temperature are you working with down there right now?
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Speaker 1: I think we're working with a cool ninety plus.
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Speaker 2: I think we are ninety plus because we are also
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Speaker 2: in June.
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Speaker 3: June also Pride month. Are you celebrating? What are you doing?
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Speaker 3: Tell me about your plans?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's funny. I think that it's I
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Speaker 1: definitely am going to celebrate. We are busy here working
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Speaker 1: at the Vallet. We have shows here through June twenty sixth,
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Speaker 1: but so we're you know, we're busy. But I I
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Speaker 1: tend to celebrate pride year round. It's an act of lifestyle,
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Speaker 1: and but I think that pride is a wonderful reminder
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Speaker 1: of where we've come from and what we need to
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Speaker 1: acknowledge about how we've you know, whose shoulders we stand on,
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Speaker 1: and so to have a month to do that, I
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Speaker 1: think it's really important. But Pride is definitely something that
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Speaker 1: I rely on year round, not just for my identity
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Speaker 1: and just who I am as a person, but who
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Speaker 1: I am as a as an artist when it comes
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Speaker 1: to being the best dancer that I can be.
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Speaker 2: And I know that one of the things that initially
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Speaker 2: drew you to getting involved in dance was just how
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Speaker 2: accepting that ballet.
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Speaker 3: Was when it came to LBGTQ.
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Speaker 2: So for you now, being such an outspoken advocate for
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Speaker 2: so many things, of course inclusivity being one of them,
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Speaker 2: how does it feel for you to like be that
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Speaker 2: representation now, to be the person at the forefront that
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Speaker 2: is standing up.
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Speaker 1: Oh gosh, you know, It's been an interesting journey. It's
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Speaker 1: one that I'm still on And like you were saying,
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Speaker 1: my introduction to dance was more I was more seeking
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Speaker 1: the community aspect of it. I was more seeking that
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Speaker 1: sensation where because in the studio it was like I
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Speaker 1: could turn the volume of to ten on who I was,
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Speaker 1: there was a sense of security and then there was
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Speaker 1: and when I was outside of the studio, I didn't
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Speaker 1: really have that. Figuring that out and learning to find
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Speaker 1: that and bring that into my work has been an
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Speaker 1: act of advocating for myself. I had to advocate for
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Speaker 1: my talent and my identity and my sexual orientation. And
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Speaker 1: by doing that, I somehow have cultivated this community and
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Speaker 1: been a representative for just living your best life and
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Speaker 1: living it, you know, living it authentically. And so I
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Speaker 1: am so honored and proud that it resonates with people.
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Speaker 1: But it's like, selfishly, I had to do it for
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Speaker 1: myself because in order for me to be the best
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Speaker 1: version of myself, the best dancer, the best human, I
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Speaker 1: had to advocate for myself. And so in doing so,
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Speaker 1: living prideful and living a wholesome well life is what
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Speaker 1: is what that required?
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Speaker 3: How old were you when you came out?
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Speaker 1: I was fourteen, and I remember vividly it was me
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Speaker 1: watching America's Next Top Model and I saw Miss Jay,
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Speaker 1: the runway coach, and I was like, that is me.
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Speaker 1: And I knew that there was some sort of confidence
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Speaker 1: and there was some sort of free spirit that Miss
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Speaker 1: Jay possessed. And so I turned off the TV and
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Speaker 1: casually strutted my way down the stairs and said, mom, Dad,
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Speaker 1: this is who I am and this is what I love.
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Speaker 1: And yeah, it was of course I had to make
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Speaker 1: some sort of event and moment out of it, like
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Speaker 1: I do everything, so but it was Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Would you say that it was kind of like you
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Speaker 2: were on autopilot at that moment, or did you have
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Speaker 2: like anxiety and nerves to go down there and have
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Speaker 2: that conversation.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, So it was very surreal. It was like I
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Speaker 1: felt like I was walking on a cloud. It was
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Speaker 1: like the cloud took me to my parents. I just
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Speaker 1: felt overcome with this sense of purpose. The anxiety and
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Speaker 1: fear came more after after I came out. I was
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Speaker 1: petrified to go back to school. I was I was
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Speaker 1: creating these scenarios of you know, being bullied or being
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Speaker 1: not accepted, and looking back, I really think that's because
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Speaker 1: of how the media portrayed gay people and it was
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Speaker 1: there was never these success stories. It was these acts
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Speaker 1: of fear or bullying and being different. And it's somehow
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Speaker 1: I've created this environment on through social media and the
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Speaker 1: content I've created and being a dancer where you can
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Speaker 1: accept who you are, accept what you love, and you
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Speaker 1: can do it successful, be successful at what your passions are.
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Speaker 1: And so I try to be the visibility that I
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Speaker 1: that I needed when I was fourteen, and so that
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Speaker 1: it's not this fear induced scenario that you're creating for
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Speaker 1: yourself at fourteen when you come out.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, you standing up then, I mean, it's beautiful that
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Speaker 2: you're willing to put yourself out in front, but that
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Speaker 2: visibility comes with its fair share of criticism. The stuff
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Speaker 2: that you were so scared of is you know, what
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Speaker 2: you deal with regularly. Now I've seen like some of
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Speaker 2: the posts that you've put up on social and all
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Speaker 2: of this critique and like horrible, horrible humans that have horrible,
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Speaker 2: horrible things to say. How have you learned to navigate
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Speaker 2: that part of being an advocate?
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Speaker 1: Well, you know, I'm not sure if it's a blessing
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Speaker 1: in disguise, but being a dancer I think has created
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Speaker 1: a tough skin for me. And it is just part
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Speaker 1: of our job to be critiqued and to have corrections
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Speaker 1: and to take people's opinions and from our coaches and
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Speaker 1: how to do things. And I stare at myself in
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Speaker 1: front of a mirror for you know, seven plus hours
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Speaker 1: a day trying to be better and trying to identify
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Speaker 1: ways that I can improve, And somehow that has built
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Speaker 1: a tough skin. So by putting myself out there, it's
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Speaker 1: a really difficult thing to put yourself out there in
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Speaker 1: a studio and to dance and to be you know,
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Speaker 1: just not judged, but seen by people. I look at
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Speaker 1: posting things on social media in a similar way, and
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Speaker 1: so when I get these critiques and you know, really
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Speaker 1: vile things, I have a confidence and I have a
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Speaker 1: strength that allows me to deal with it. But I'm
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Speaker 1: really aware that not everybody has that. You know, I
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Speaker 1: had two parents that were super supportive and super loving
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Speaker 1: of me, and I have managed to join a company
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Speaker 1: that is sixty plus dancers that are like family to me,
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Speaker 1: and that's not the case for everybody. There are people
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Speaker 1: who are isolated, there are people who are who don't
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Speaker 1: have that family dynamic, and so I just buy, like
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Speaker 1: I was saying, by advocating for myself, by doing well
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Speaker 1: for me, by taking care of who I am, I
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Speaker 1: hope that I show people that you have community out
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Speaker 1: there and that there are people and the chosen family
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Speaker 1: is just as strong as the you know, you're born
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Speaker 1: in family. And so, yeah, navigating it is tough. I
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Speaker 1: want to read people all the time. I wish that
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Speaker 1: I didn't take such grace with it, you know, and
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Speaker 1: block people's user names out when I post them. You know,
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Speaker 1: I really would like to drag them through the mud,
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Speaker 1: but giving them the attention I just don't think is
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Speaker 1: I don't think they deserve it. That's a hard lesson
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Speaker 1: to learn, totally, totally.
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Speaker 2: You mentioned standing in front of a mirror for seven
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Speaker 2: plus hours a day. For some that literally sounds like
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Speaker 2: their own version of personal hell. Not because I'm sure
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Speaker 2: for you, standing in front of a mirror for seven
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Speaker 2: hours a day is a lot of movement and activity
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Speaker 2: and athleticism, which we'll get to in a little bit,
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Speaker 2: but also because I'd be damned if I didn't say
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Speaker 2: that opens you up to a lot of self critique.
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Speaker 2: Can you talk to me about what your relationship has
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Speaker 2: been like with your body as you have progressed as
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Speaker 2: a dancer.
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Speaker 1: It comes down to really that what the art form
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Speaker 1: of ballet is very antiquated, and the ideals that it's
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Speaker 1: built on the physical image of it is just it's
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Speaker 1: outdated and looking at the top of what successful dancers
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Speaker 1: looked like and have been. I knew that I didn't
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Speaker 1: fit that, and I knew that I didn't possess a
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Speaker 1: lot of qualities that those dancers possessed, skin color, sexual orientation. MABOUTI,
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Speaker 1: you know, like it's like I'm a black dancer, so
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Speaker 1: it's having curves, and so at the age of fourteen fifteen,
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Speaker 1: in making the decision to pursue this as a career,
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Speaker 1: I really thought that I had to hide those things,
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Speaker 1: and I had to apologize for those things, and I
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Speaker 1: had to show up to work and try and be
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Speaker 1: something that I physically was not. And that created a
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Speaker 1: real issue in my dancing because it was like the
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Speaker 1: standstill of saying nothing and doing nothing because I was
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Speaker 1: working so hard to not be who I was. And
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Speaker 1: it really wasn't until I you know, it actually really
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Speaker 1: wasn't until I started doing social media and found this
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Speaker 1: way of authentically sharing my passions that made me happy
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Speaker 1: outside of the studio and brought me joy and brought
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Speaker 1: a response from people that I had never met before.
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Speaker 1: I was reaching people that had no idea what it
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Speaker 1: was to be a valid dancer and had no idea
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Speaker 1: that I was a dancer, and pulling from that and
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Speaker 1: bringing that into the studio gave me a lot of
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Speaker 1: motivation and inspiration to try to be or just to
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Speaker 1: accept who I was and to start putting elements of
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Speaker 1: that into my dancing. And I started liking what I
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Speaker 1: saw more in the mirror. I saw Yeah, it just
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Speaker 1: there's this I feel like, there's this indescribable feeling of
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Speaker 1: when you just know something is right. And my dancing
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Speaker 1: started to feel like that and it was a really
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Speaker 1: beautiful thing. It was a scary thing, it was it
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Speaker 1: wasn't an easy thing, but learning to implement more of
15:07
Speaker 1: Harper into my dancing was ultimately the push I needed
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Speaker 1: to be on the path that I'm on now.
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Speaker 2: And your note about feeling as though you didn't necessarily
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Speaker 2: feel comfortable walking out and like being in your own skin,
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Speaker 2: a lot of people feel like that all the time,
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Speaker 2: whether or not they're standing in front of a mirror
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Speaker 2: for seven plus hours.
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Speaker 3: You had to learn these lessons in your own way.
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Speaker 2: But if you had to offer advice to anyone who
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Speaker 2: may just be feeling unsettled, what would you tell them?
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Speaker 1: You know? So, I'm adopted and I come from a
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Speaker 1: biracial family. Both my parents are white and Caucasian, and
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Speaker 1: I struggled with this idea of being different and standing out.
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Speaker 1: I was super super aware of when like waiters at
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Speaker 1: restaurants would be like are you together? Like are you know?
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Speaker 1: Like when they would seed us, and it was this real,
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Speaker 1: this thing of overcoming this idea of standing out and
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Speaker 1: being different and learning to use that as a powerful
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Speaker 1: thing that now that I stand out, or if I
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Speaker 1: stand out, I'm going to use that to my advantage.
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Speaker 1: I have your attention. Now, I'm going to show you
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Speaker 1: my work and I'm going to show you what I'm
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Speaker 1: about and using the your uniqueness, your that is strength,
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Speaker 1: That is power. It's not something that it's like I
16:33
Speaker 1: can do at the you know, snap of a finger,
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Speaker 1: but just reminding myself that your uniqueness is strength, your
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Speaker 1: in the qualities that you possess, that you feel are different,
16:45
Speaker 1: that you want to turn down, are actually the ones
16:47
Speaker 1: that you should turn up. Because you know, my teacher here,
16:52
Speaker 1: my boss, he said, you're never going to get the
16:54
Speaker 1: perfect wave. It's about riding the wave you're given. And
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Speaker 1: it's like you're never it's never going to be perfect.
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Speaker 1: You're never going to be perfect. And so I try
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Speaker 1: to with my dancing understand that I might fall out
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Speaker 1: of a turn, i might look a little weird at
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Speaker 1: that moment, but if I'm saying something intentional behind my dancing,
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Speaker 1: then that's what's important. And so intention behind your ownership
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Speaker 1: of self is really really important.
17:23
Speaker 2: Super important we've mentioned a few times or referenced a
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Speaker 2: few times or your social media, So just so everyone's
17:28
Speaker 2: on the same page here, You've got something near two
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Speaker 2: hundred and fifty thousand followers over on Instagram.
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Speaker 3: You've also got a following on TikTok.
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Speaker 2: So before we dive back into your backstory, give us
17:42
Speaker 2: a little insight as to how growing on that platform
17:46
Speaker 2: has been for you. It's seemingly a positive experience. You
17:49
Speaker 2: talk about the community that you've cultivated over there, and
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Speaker 2: it really empowering you to come out into your own
17:54
Speaker 2: So when did social media become a really big part
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Speaker 2: of the game for you?
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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. I first joined Instagram, I believe in
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Speaker 1: like twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, and I was one of
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Speaker 1: those who like thought that it was just purely to
18:10
Speaker 1: like show what you were eating and you know, put
18:14
Speaker 1: like a real heavy filter on it and call it
18:16
Speaker 1: a day, you know. And then what it was is
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Speaker 1: I looked at it as a way to showcase my company.
18:23
Speaker 1: I was surrounded by so many talented people, and I
18:27
Speaker 1: would show us dancing and starting to have people that
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Speaker 1: I never met or you know, who I knew comment
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Speaker 1: and like what I was doing. It inspired me to
18:40
Speaker 1: post more. But I created a video where I was
18:44
Speaker 1: running on a treadmill and pink heels with my best
18:47
Speaker 1: friend and that went At the time, it went viral,
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Speaker 1: and I considered myself a full blown celebrity. I was like,
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Speaker 1: I've made it. You know, this is give the people
19:00
Speaker 1: what they want. And so I started posting a lot
19:04
Speaker 1: more videos of us doing crazy things on treadmills. But
19:08
Speaker 1: it quickly became something that I was aware of that
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Speaker 1: I was like, do I want to be known as
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Speaker 1: the high heeled treadmill running person when I feel like
19:21
Speaker 1: there is so much more to who I am, And
19:25
Speaker 1: so I feel like what I did is I because
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Speaker 1: it's got a lot of views. I would take those
19:32
Speaker 1: videos and I would post one, and then the next
19:35
Speaker 1: post I would share me at work, or I would
19:37
Speaker 1: talk about being a black dancer, or I would incorporate
19:41
Speaker 1: something with fashion. And I really built this community. We
19:47
Speaker 1: have this saying and dance where it's quality over quantity,
19:50
Speaker 1: and I was really just aware of not building something
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Speaker 1: that was purely based on numbers, but it was based
19:56
Speaker 1: off of the quality of people that was trusted in
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Speaker 1: what I did and in continuing to do that. I
20:03
Speaker 1: saw responses from brands and from businesses that wanted to
20:09
Speaker 1: work with me, and it was like, really surreal moving
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Speaker 1: here to Houston at sixteen years old on my own,
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Speaker 1: pursuing ballet, and here I am, you know, traveling to
20:21
Speaker 1: New York to shoot a Pride campaign with Ralph Lauren.
20:24
Speaker 1: It was very, very you know, surreal, and so I
20:30
Speaker 1: just trusted my instinct. I trusted my gut and continued
20:33
Speaker 1: to do that. I don't know if you knew, but
20:36
Speaker 1: the past two years we've been in a pandemic. Don't
20:38
Speaker 1: know if you knew that.
20:40
Speaker 3: I don't know if you're familiar.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if you're familiar. And I succumbed to
20:44
Speaker 1: this little app called TikTok. It gave me every bit
20:48
Speaker 1: of energy I needed during my you know, living on
20:51
Speaker 1: my own with my dog, and I was like, am
20:53
Speaker 1: I going to be a dancer again? Well, if I'm not,
20:55
Speaker 1: I'm going to dance to this audio of Cardi b
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Speaker 1: saying coronavirus. And so I discovered TikTok over the pandemic,
21:04
Speaker 1: and again it was this freedom of sharing and I
21:08
Speaker 1: connected to the music and the audio and it was
21:12
Speaker 1: it just was kind of like another step based off
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Speaker 1: of Instagram. And so I'm so happy that I have it,
21:19
Speaker 1: because I think social media has a bad rep sometimes
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Speaker 1: that it's this you know, in authentic, fake world, which
21:28
Speaker 1: sure I can see people who you know participate in that,
21:32
Speaker 1: but I really felt like it was a platform of
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Speaker 1: for me, if you do it insightfully and authentically, of
21:40
Speaker 1: creating a world that was allowing people to see who
21:44
Speaker 1: you are. And so I view my social media like that,
21:47
Speaker 1: and if it resonates with people, thank you.
21:49
Speaker 2: I want to go back to your beginnings as a
21:52
Speaker 2: dancer and talk a little bit about your exposure and
21:55
Speaker 2: how you got started.
21:56
Speaker 3: So I know, young age, but take us from there.
22:01
Speaker 1: So, like I said, I was I was adopted. I
22:03
Speaker 1: was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was adopted at
22:05
Speaker 1: two weeks and both my parents are former English professors
22:11
Speaker 1: and my dad is currently a state Senator of New Hampshire.
22:15
Speaker 1: But there was this, and I know that there was
22:19
Speaker 1: this understanding of an appreciation for the arts, and I'm
22:24
Speaker 1: very grateful for that because as an only child who
22:28
Speaker 1: was obsessed with movement and rhythm, I constantly was putting
22:34
Speaker 1: on shows and seeking the attention of my parents, and
22:39
Speaker 1: they succumbed to that. My dad built me, you know,
22:42
Speaker 1: my own balance beam so I could be like Dominique
22:45
Speaker 1: Dawes because I was obsessed with seeing her in the Olympics,
22:49
Speaker 1: and I would put on my own shows of you know,
22:51
Speaker 1: one person Nutcrackers in my living room and it was
22:57
Speaker 1: I mean, my parents knew that there was some sort
22:59
Speaker 1: of performance element arts related world that I was going
23:04
Speaker 1: to be a part of. And like I said, when
23:07
Speaker 1: I came out when I was fourteen, I was going
23:09
Speaker 1: to private school. Whether I was lucky to have dance
23:13
Speaker 1: as an elective there, and I knew that I could dance,
23:18
Speaker 1: but more importantly, I was like I watched TV. I
23:20
Speaker 1: watched the real world. I watched you know, Queerie for
23:23
Speaker 1: the straight guy. I knew there were gay people in
23:25
Speaker 1: the arts. And there was a performing arts high school,
23:27
Speaker 1: the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Natick, Massachusetts,
23:31
Speaker 1: that was about an hour and a half away, and
23:34
Speaker 1: I forced my parents to let me audition there. And
23:37
Speaker 1: so the summer before my sophomore year of high school,
23:39
Speaker 1: I auditioned and I was accepted, and it was like
23:43
Speaker 1: gay utopia for me. I was like, this is where
23:46
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be. You know, I had no idea
23:49
Speaker 1: that arts in a ballet career was a sustainable job.
23:53
Speaker 1: I was more going for. I was like, I'll go
23:58
Speaker 1: to college and major in dance, which is completely fine
24:03
Speaker 1: in an amazing career, But this performance in working as
24:08
Speaker 1: a professional dancer, I didn't really understand until I was there.
24:12
Speaker 1: And I was sent on a summer intensive in two
24:15
Speaker 1: thousand and nine to come to Houston. And that's when
24:19
Speaker 1: I was sixteen years old, and I actually auditioned for
24:22
Speaker 1: the Second Company here without telling my parents during that
24:25
Speaker 1: summer program, and I was accepted. And when I joined
24:33
Speaker 1: the Second Company here, and you know, even when I
24:36
Speaker 1: got into performing Arts high school, when I got into
24:38
Speaker 1: the summer intensive here, every moment has felt like I
24:42
Speaker 1: had a foot in the door and to make the
24:46
Speaker 1: most of that opportunity because it felt like, you know,
24:49
Speaker 1: life was giving me this once in a lifetime moment
24:52
Speaker 1: that I had to make the most of. And so
24:55
Speaker 1: I really turned up the volume on my work ethic
24:57
Speaker 1: and really really focused because it just felt like where
25:01
Speaker 1: who I was and where I was coming from, that
25:04
Speaker 1: this moment wouldn't really happen again or as frequently as
25:09
Speaker 1: I would hope, And after doing two years in the
25:14
Speaker 1: second company, I was offered a job in the main
25:16
Speaker 1: company in twenty eleven when I was eighteen, and so
25:19
Speaker 1: I joined Houston Ballet, which is the fourth largest ballet
25:22
Speaker 1: company in the US. In twenty twelve, I was promoted
25:26
Speaker 1: to the quart of Ballet, which is like the largest
25:29
Speaker 1: section in the company where you start out. In twenty sixteen,
25:33
Speaker 1: I was promoted to demi soloist. Twenty seventeen, I was
25:36
Speaker 1: promoted to soloist, and in December of twenty twenty one,
25:40
Speaker 1: I was promoted to the rank of first soloist, which
25:44
Speaker 1: I'm the highest ranked black queer dancer for the Houston Ballet.
25:50
Speaker 3: No big deal, So much to unpack here.
25:53
Speaker 2: We have to double click on the fact that your
25:55
Speaker 2: father works in politics. Has that ever been something that
25:59
Speaker 2: makes you anxious or do you ever feel the need
26:02
Speaker 2: to reevaluate maybe how you're showing up there or how
26:06
Speaker 2: does that impact you.
26:08
Speaker 1: Both my parents are, you know, my biggest inspirations. My
26:12
Speaker 1: dad's career in politics. Before becoming a state senator, he
26:16
Speaker 1: was a state representative and he worked on the campaigns
26:19
Speaker 1: of Carrie and Gore and Obama, and my mother has
26:24
Speaker 1: been although she has not had an official title, she
26:28
Speaker 1: has been an outspoken, opinionated, you know, focal point for
26:34
Speaker 1: my father. And it's so funny. One of the things
26:38
Speaker 1: that embarrassed me most about my mom growing up was
26:41
Speaker 1: her outspokenness, and at events with my dad, she would
26:46
Speaker 1: ask I remember her raising her hand and asking Hillary
26:49
Speaker 1: Clinton a question that was sort of controversial, and I
26:52
Speaker 1: was mortified. And she continues to this day to do that.
26:59
Speaker 1: But what was so embarrassing about her has been what
27:03
Speaker 1: I admire most about her now and what I try
27:05
Speaker 1: to carry with me in my advocacy work. And being
27:12
Speaker 1: able to call out and identify god behavior or you know,
27:19
Speaker 1: in my dad, how he stands up for his community
27:21
Speaker 1: is also really inspiring to me. It's also really interesting
27:25
Speaker 1: because my cousin is currently the leading nightline Fox News correspondent,
27:32
Speaker 1: and so we live a life of contrasting political views
27:36
Speaker 1: in this family. Just trying to find ways to unify
27:40
Speaker 1: is really important in our family and something that has
27:44
Speaker 1: brought me a challenge, but also something that I try
27:48
Speaker 1: to do in my work as well, trying to identify
27:51
Speaker 1: ways that we can all unite over something despite having
27:54
Speaker 1: opposing ideas on other things.
27:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, I really feel this deeply.
27:59
Speaker 2: My you know, parts of my family also don't share
28:02
Speaker 2: the same political beliefs as me, and I come to
28:06
Speaker 2: every conversation with the mindset that you and I don't
28:08
Speaker 2: have to agree on something, but that doesn't mean that
28:10
Speaker 2: we can't be good to one another, we can't move
28:13
Speaker 2: forward together, And so I love where you're coming from
28:16
Speaker 2: with that. It's just so important to have grace and
28:20
Speaker 2: compassion for everyone. Just because they don't stand on the
28:23
Speaker 2: same side of an issue doesn't mean that.
28:25
Speaker 3: They're not a good human total.
28:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so you have this long standing love affair
28:33
Speaker 2: with dance and rise through the rinks. I would argue,
28:37
Speaker 2: like fairly quickly over in Houston. You know, it's interesting
28:40
Speaker 2: that you were like the top you know, black LGBTQ
28:45
Speaker 2: dancer at the Houston Bala. But it's no secret diversity
28:49
Speaker 2: in ballet as a whole.
28:51
Speaker 3: There's still a wide way for us to go.
28:55
Speaker 2: So for you, have you found it to be exciting
29:01
Speaker 2: to be paving the way forward here or does it
29:04
Speaker 2: feel intimidating? You know, you mentioned the people that inspire
29:07
Speaker 2: you when we were talking about your inspirations growing up,
29:10
Speaker 2: you said, Miss Jay, you were talking about dominic dawes
29:13
Speaker 2: like so much goodness and sometimes in order to be it,
29:16
Speaker 2: you have to see it. And now people are seeing
29:18
Speaker 2: you and you're that for them. So just talk to
29:22
Speaker 2: us a little bit about what that's like.
29:24
Speaker 1: Yes, so, yes, it was and is and will continue
29:29
Speaker 1: to be intimidating, you know, off of this summer, you know,
29:34
Speaker 1: dealing with a pandemic, but also a huge you know,
29:38
Speaker 1: the Black Lives Matter movement was huge, and I felt
29:41
Speaker 1: this huge responsibility for being one of few in an
29:45
Speaker 1: art form of many that I had to do a lot,
29:49
Speaker 1: I had to say a lot, I had to be
29:50
Speaker 1: present for a lot. And it was this overwhelming responsibility
29:55
Speaker 1: because navigating people at the top who are not in
30:01
Speaker 1: your shoes and don't live your lifestyle and their opinions
30:06
Speaker 1: and having tough conversations where the power dynamic is different
30:12
Speaker 1: when I'm a dancer to now being just a human
30:17
Speaker 1: being and a and a and a person with them.
30:20
Speaker 1: It was. It was difficult and I did really over
30:24
Speaker 1: extend myself and it was too much for me. And uh,
30:30
Speaker 1: what I was doing in the studio as an artist
30:32
Speaker 1: by really taking care of my dancing and who I was,
30:36
Speaker 1: you know, as a person, and taking care of my
30:38
Speaker 1: body and really putting a lot of work and attention
30:41
Speaker 1: into my dancing. I thought and understood that that in
30:47
Speaker 1: itself is doing the work as well and being present
30:53
Speaker 1: and taking care of my job and wanting to be
30:57
Speaker 1: the best dnswer I could be in it self is
31:00
Speaker 1: a form of activism and representation that I didn't I
31:06
Speaker 1: didn't think it was until I got promoted and someone
31:11
Speaker 1: said you're now the first, and that is activism. And
31:14
Speaker 1: so instead of over exerting myself in areas that brought
31:19
Speaker 1: me stress and felt that I had to do work
31:23
Speaker 1: that in fact I didn't actually have to do and
31:27
Speaker 1: wasn't required of me and shouldn't have been required of me.
31:30
Speaker 1: My work is meant to be the dancer and meant
31:33
Speaker 1: to be the artist and meant to be harper uh.
31:36
Speaker 1: And learning that that was activism in itself was a
31:41
Speaker 1: real pivotal point in my career.
31:49
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Speaker 2: sample pack with purchase. That concept of feeling as though
34:52
Speaker 2: you need to say something, but being unsure of what
34:55
Speaker 2: you want to say or if you want to say
34:58
Speaker 2: anything at all. And sometimes it's not the if you
35:01
Speaker 2: want to say something, but also the pressure to feel
35:04
Speaker 2: as though what you're saying is quote unquote the right thing.
35:08
Speaker 3: It's just so complicated.
35:10
Speaker 1: Totally for me. One of the biggest things I learned
35:14
Speaker 1: over the past few years was just being able to
35:17
Speaker 1: identify when something makes you uncomfortable and that that shouldn't
35:21
Speaker 1: be something that you accept. But when it comes to
35:26
Speaker 1: real change and real work that is implemented into these organizations,
35:30
Speaker 1: not just a ballet company, but big brands and big companies,
35:35
Speaker 1: there are people that have devoted their life to this
35:38
Speaker 1: work and we should turn to them and we should
35:40
Speaker 1: listen to them. And you know, I was trying to
35:45
Speaker 1: take on a lot and be a lot for people.
35:49
Speaker 1: That was too much for me. But there are young
35:53
Speaker 1: Black dancers, they are young Asian, they're young Latin X
35:59
Speaker 1: dancers who are joining the company and being a resource
36:02
Speaker 1: for them and being an ally for them is where
36:08
Speaker 1: I can lend myself and my work in how I
36:12
Speaker 1: approach my work is you know, trying to be the
36:16
Speaker 1: best dancer I can be for myself by inspiring them.
36:20
Speaker 1: That is activism, That is work, and so I look
36:22
Speaker 1: at it like that.
36:24
Speaker 2: Can we talk a little bit about the athleticism that
36:27
Speaker 2: goes into your profession, because it's not like you just
36:32
Speaker 2: show up and all you do is dance all the time.
36:34
Speaker 3: There's more than that.
36:35
Speaker 2: So can you shed some light on what your week
36:39
Speaker 2: of movement might look like?
36:41
Speaker 1: Yes? So, well, like I said, I'm thirty now, so
36:45
Speaker 1: it looks a little different than when I started, you know.
36:48
Speaker 1: But we here at Houston Valley. We have a forty
36:51
Speaker 1: four week contract. We have the longest contract in Valley,
36:54
Speaker 1: which is very long, and we're very grateful to be
36:57
Speaker 1: worked working that much work five days a week. We
37:01
Speaker 1: work Tuesday to Saturday. We have a ten o'clock ballet class,
37:04
Speaker 1: which is an hour and a half where we start
37:07
Speaker 1: forty five minutes at the bar doing you know, basic
37:10
Speaker 1: exercises to warm up, and then we move into center,
37:13
Speaker 1: which is a bit more free form moving. Got a
37:16
Speaker 1: fifteen minute break to you know, grab a protein bar,
37:19
Speaker 1: maybe make a call do something, and then we jump
37:22
Speaker 1: into rehearsals for six hours until six forty five, and
37:27
Speaker 1: we do that five days a week. When we're in shows,
37:30
Speaker 1: we have a little bit of a later start. We
37:32
Speaker 1: start around twelve twelve thirty and we're in the theater
37:35
Speaker 1: until ten thirty. And so for the past six weeks
37:38
Speaker 1: here in Houston, we've been going NonStop because we have
37:43
Speaker 1: you know, depending on the rep, we do two weekends,
37:46
Speaker 1: three weekends, four weekends, but we're doing six weekends this
37:49
Speaker 1: year of shows, which are a lot of rehearsals and
37:54
Speaker 1: a lot of physically demanding movement and partnering and also
38:00
Speaker 1: acting and character development, which is in itself exhausting as well.
38:06
Speaker 1: But it's a really it's just such a unique thing
38:08
Speaker 1: to call yourself a ballet dancer, and to be a
38:11
Speaker 1: ballet dancer and to have this beautiful balance of athleticism
38:16
Speaker 1: with artistry and to transform into characters and to tell
38:20
Speaker 1: stories and to tell your own story through dancing and
38:23
Speaker 1: movement is a really beautiful thing. So we do a lot.
38:27
Speaker 1: We do a lot. We do a lot.
38:29
Speaker 3: How do you recover?
38:31
Speaker 1: Oh goodness, you know, it's so funny. I just posted
38:33
Speaker 1: a story on my Instagram yesterday and I was like
38:35
Speaker 1: watching the Housewives and I was like, you know, some
38:37
Speaker 1: dancers do like ep, some salt, some do like ice,
38:41
Speaker 1: and I'm like fully binging the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Now,
38:44
Speaker 1: you know, my As you get older and or even if,
38:49
Speaker 1: the more you dance, the more work is required for
38:51
Speaker 1: you outside of the studio. You know, I used to
38:54
Speaker 1: be able to sort of just stroll into class a
38:57
Speaker 1: little bit later than I should. But now the recovery
39:03
Speaker 1: process is just as important as the warming up process,
39:07
Speaker 1: and just as important as the dancing that I'm you know,
39:10
Speaker 1: doing in the studio. Nutrition and wellness has been a
39:14
Speaker 1: huge resource for me and something that I rely on heavily.
39:20
Speaker 1: You know, when you're in your twenties and late you know,
39:23
Speaker 1: late teens, You're like, what I put into my body
39:25
Speaker 1: doesn't matter because I have a fast metabolism and hangovers
39:29
Speaker 1: don't exist. Now, you know, twenty five hit and it
39:33
Speaker 1: was like lower back pain, financial stress, and you know, hangovers.
39:40
Speaker 1: But but you know, in all seriousness, it really is
39:45
Speaker 1: just like a full time a full time thing, and
39:47
Speaker 1: so figuring out what works for my body and how
39:53
Speaker 1: I can be set up best, so when I enter
39:57
Speaker 1: the studio, I'm at my best. Has been really really
40:00
Speaker 1: vital for me.
40:01
Speaker 3: When you're not dancing, How are you spending your time
40:06
Speaker 3: outside of watching the real housewise?
40:09
Speaker 1: Well, I I'm a worker bee. I I don't know
40:15
Speaker 1: if it's because I'm a Capricorn. I don't know if
40:17
Speaker 1: it's because I'm an only child and I've always just
40:20
Speaker 1: had to keep myself going. But I create a lot
40:24
Speaker 1: of content. I'm you know, I'm trying to build something
40:28
Speaker 1: off of what I've created because I'm well aware that
40:31
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be, you know, a dancer forever,
40:33
Speaker 1: and so I consider the work that I have on
40:36
Speaker 1: my free time just as important. It also is, you know,
40:40
Speaker 1: I do understand taking baths is really lovely. I love
40:45
Speaker 1: I don't know why I started taking baths so late
40:47
Speaker 1: in life, but like baths are it? Like it? I mean,
40:52
Speaker 1: I put like I love an epsom salt bath. Yeah.
40:56
Speaker 1: I would always hear the older dancers like saying I
40:58
Speaker 1: can't wait home to go to take a bath, and
41:00
Speaker 1: like get home and take a bath, and I was like,
41:02
Speaker 1: why are you going to take a bath? Like you
41:03
Speaker 1: should be like watching like TV or something. Now it's
41:07
Speaker 1: like these like little rewards, but and just being with
41:10
Speaker 1: friends and yeah, it's just it's little things that I
41:14
Speaker 1: do on my free time. But really it is crazy
41:17
Speaker 1: how much I try to create and do things on
41:21
Speaker 1: my free time.
41:22
Speaker 2: Do you think that as you have started to create
41:27
Speaker 2: more frequently, it has been almost essential that you show
41:32
Speaker 2: up even harder in your dancing because of maybe unsolicited
41:38
Speaker 2: feedback or opinions on trying to do both.
41:42
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny that you say that, because I
41:44
Speaker 1: think that one of my biggest challenges. I think I
41:47
Speaker 1: know that on face value and the content I create,
41:50
Speaker 1: I have this persona of complete ownership of self and confidence.
41:54
Speaker 1: And you know, Beyonce has her Sasha fears. I consider
41:59
Speaker 1: my ulter ego Sachet fears. But it's one of the
42:04
Speaker 1: biggest struggles that I've been having this year inside the
42:06
Speaker 1: studio and outside of the studio is being told what
42:10
Speaker 1: to do, that there's one way to do it, and
42:15
Speaker 1: people's opinions of it's hard for me to navigate, you know,
42:19
Speaker 1: and I under and when someone says this is how
42:21
Speaker 1: you should do it, or that's not reading well, or
42:24
Speaker 1: try it like this. I am struggling personally with how
42:29
Speaker 1: do you know or why you know?
42:31
Speaker 3: And can you give me an example.
42:33
Speaker 1: For example, there's this role that I did in a
42:36
Speaker 1: ballet called Don Quixote, and it's a it's a Spanish ballet,
42:39
Speaker 1: so lots of bravore movement and you know matadors, and
42:43
Speaker 1: I did it with the lead matador and he has
42:47
Speaker 1: this dance with a woman and our coach was she
42:50
Speaker 1: was saying, you need to whisper these sexy things in
42:52
Speaker 1: her ear and you need to make her swoon, and
42:56
Speaker 1: but you're just smiling a little so and you're smiling
42:58
Speaker 1: too much and it looks too well, I'm not allowed
43:02
Speaker 1: to be friendly. This is how I'm this is this
43:05
Speaker 1: is how I'm doing it. And you know, I would
43:08
Speaker 1: every time I would do a run of the dance,
43:10
Speaker 1: she would say, it's good, it's good, but you're just
43:11
Speaker 1: doing it like this, and she goes, it's just a
43:14
Speaker 1: little too much, and I was like, it's a little
43:16
Speaker 1: too much what you know? And I kind of I
43:20
Speaker 1: just knew what she was implying and navigating, you know,
43:25
Speaker 1: figuring out that and and why does it have to
43:29
Speaker 1: be one way? When you know, ballet is an art
43:32
Speaker 1: form that's delivered and taught from the people who have
43:35
Speaker 1: done it before us, and so being a part of
43:40
Speaker 1: the change, I think, and in shifting the image of
43:45
Speaker 1: what ballet looks like and how ballet is done and
43:50
Speaker 1: is challenging, and that's one of the challenges where I
43:53
Speaker 1: feel is most challenging.
43:58
Speaker 2: Well, I also feel as though, like within ballet for
44:01
Speaker 2: so long, you know, it has been this idea that
44:06
Speaker 2: men are supposed to appear like hyper masculine, and so
44:10
Speaker 2: for you to show up and be your authentic self.
44:14
Speaker 2: I can understand why that can be a little bit stressful,
44:16
Speaker 2: but it also, as we've kind of touched on thus far,
44:21
Speaker 2: will be empowering and will continue to inspire others to
44:24
Speaker 2: embrace their authentic selves.
44:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, totally. And you know, the ballet Don Quixote is
44:29
Speaker 1: an old ballet, and we have been fortunate enough recently
44:34
Speaker 1: to have choreographers come in who are new choreographers and
44:38
Speaker 1: are when they come in they ask us for they say,
44:42
Speaker 1: bring more of who you are into this, you know,
44:44
Speaker 1: and bring more of your identity and yourself into it.
44:47
Speaker 1: And then when I do that, my dancing feels so
44:49
Speaker 1: much better. It's when I am trying to be a
44:54
Speaker 1: character or someone's idea of something. I feel super, super restricted,
45:00
Speaker 1: and I think when I first started out, I would
45:04
Speaker 1: take that as, Oh, you're right, I have to be
45:07
Speaker 1: like this. Now it sort of infuriates me and next
45:11
Speaker 1: to me frustrated because I am the dancer, I'm the artist.
45:18
Speaker 1: I have to respect the people in the front of
45:20
Speaker 1: the room. But it's sort of hard to respect what's
45:24
Speaker 1: in the front of the room when I feel like
45:26
Speaker 1: who I am is being disrespected. So figuring that out
45:32
Speaker 1: has been has been a challenge. But again, I just
45:35
Speaker 1: think just taking care of myself and continuing to show
45:38
Speaker 1: up is part of the is part of the change,
45:41
Speaker 1: and so I will continue to do that until I can.
45:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, for you, what excites you right now, either in
45:49
Speaker 2: work or outside of work.
45:54
Speaker 1: People who uh the hustle. The hustle really inspires me.
46:02
Speaker 1: I love social media and Instagram and TikTok because I
46:07
Speaker 1: think of it as a perfect uh tool for discovery.
46:10
Speaker 1: I've discovered so many creatives and watching their journey and
46:15
Speaker 1: watching them flourish and watching them receive the flowers that
46:19
Speaker 1: they deserve and achieve the things that they want. That's
46:22
Speaker 1: inspiring to me. I look back at the roles that
46:25
Speaker 1: I danced, and look at the roles that I've danced
46:27
Speaker 1: now and that excites me. I've seen fashion designers like
46:31
Speaker 1: Christian Christopher John Rogers who is just making the clothes
46:37
Speaker 1: that he's envisioned, you know, on fashion Week and down
46:42
Speaker 1: the runway of the biggest fashion stage, and that inspires me.
46:48
Speaker 1: And the housewives inspire me, you know, media media inspires me.
46:53
Speaker 1: Seeing my friends like one of my good friends, he
46:57
Speaker 1: just booked the role of or his show as folks started,
47:01
Speaker 1: and I know how much he's you know, gone to
47:04
Speaker 1: auditions and put in the work and that you don't
47:07
Speaker 1: really see and it looks like now all of a sudden,
47:09
Speaker 1: it's just there and he's in. He's winning. And so
47:13
Speaker 1: seeing artists and creatives and people flourish and achieve the
47:20
Speaker 1: things that they want, that's exciting to me.
47:24
Speaker 3: What do you want?
47:25
Speaker 1: Oh? I will say this, I think I mentioned it earlier.
47:32
Speaker 1: I moved here for ballet and being the best dancer
47:37
Speaker 1: that I can be for myself has opened up so
47:39
Speaker 1: many doors that I never thought were possible, like truly
47:43
Speaker 1: never thought possible. And so I will continue being the
47:48
Speaker 1: best dancer that I can be and if that perhaps
47:52
Speaker 1: gives me my own talk show. I will welcome that.
47:57
Speaker 1: If that gives If that gives me a book deal,
48:01
Speaker 1: why not. But if that, if that allows me to
48:04
Speaker 1: inspire someone to step into a dance studio who never
48:07
Speaker 1: thought that it was possible for them, that's what I
48:11
Speaker 1: want as well. But I just want I think what
48:15
Speaker 1: I will say is I want ballet and dance to
48:18
Speaker 1: be appreciated mainstream as much as other art forms and
48:24
Speaker 1: other you know, athletic jobs or opportunities. And that's not
48:33
Speaker 1: a financial thing. That's not a monetary thing, but just
48:36
Speaker 1: I want it to be appreciated, uh fully. And I
48:39
Speaker 1: want the image of what it is to be a
48:41
Speaker 1: ballet dancer, what a ballet dancer looks like, what a
48:44
Speaker 1: ballet dancer does, who they love, who they are. I
48:48
Speaker 1: want that image to be broadened. And I'm doing it
48:53
Speaker 1: my way, and that there's there's others who are doing
48:56
Speaker 1: a third way. We're all, you know, unique and independent
49:00
Speaker 1: in our pursuit of this career, so I want that
49:03
Speaker 1: to be broadened.
49:05
Speaker 3: I love that.
49:06
Speaker 2: Will you talk to us a little bit about what
49:09
Speaker 2: it was like for you to return to the stage
49:12
Speaker 2: last summer?
49:14
Speaker 1: Wow, it was really nerve wracking, but it was also super,
49:17
Speaker 1: super exciting. I put in a lot of work. I
49:21
Speaker 1: really ramped up my physical regiment in the gym and
49:25
Speaker 1: again with my nutrition and taking care of my body.
49:28
Speaker 1: And because I had my routine as a dancer, professional
49:35
Speaker 1: dancer stripped away from me for about a year and
49:37
Speaker 1: a half, I was taking ballet class right here on
49:42
Speaker 1: this stairwell, railing in my kitchen over zoom, trying to
49:46
Speaker 1: maintain any sense of technique that I had. And so
49:52
Speaker 1: my first performance was a tour with two other dancers
49:55
Speaker 1: from Houston Ballet to Jacob's Pillow, which is a world
49:58
Speaker 1: renowned ballet venue for companies, and I had to do
50:01
Speaker 1: nine shows of five ballets in the evening. And I
50:05
Speaker 1: was I wasn't so nervous about doing it once. I
50:09
Speaker 1: was nervous about doing it nine times. And you know,
50:14
Speaker 1: the physical element and the quality that I wanted to
50:18
Speaker 1: be able to put out there, I was really nervous about.
50:23
Speaker 1: But I also like we had been discussing. So much
50:26
Speaker 1: had happened in those two years, and I felt like
50:29
Speaker 1: I learned so much and discovered so much about who
50:32
Speaker 1: I was, and that this was an incredible opportunity to
50:35
Speaker 1: return to the stage and say something with my dancing,
50:39
Speaker 1: and so I was, Yeah, I was excited, but I
50:43
Speaker 1: was nervous, and I just was excited to show people
50:47
Speaker 1: the work because I would I was doing pilates upstairs
50:51
Speaker 1: in my room, in my bedroom every morning, and I
50:55
Speaker 1: was eating right, and I was having my milk and coffee.
50:58
Speaker 1: I was having my milk and my protein shakes. I
51:01
Speaker 1: was doing that. I was clean eating. And so because
51:04
Speaker 1: I did that so diligently, I wanted I wanted people
51:09
Speaker 1: to see that I did it diligently.
51:12
Speaker 2: When you say that you want people to see what
51:15
Speaker 2: I have to say in my dancing, what would you
51:17
Speaker 2: say that you are trying to convey.
51:21
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm wanting people to see me and want to say,
51:27
Speaker 1: who is who is that? What is that? What that was?
51:30
Speaker 1: That was? I want to create a reaction. I just
51:34
Speaker 1: don't want to be up there doing steps and I
51:36
Speaker 1: want something. I want people to feel something. I want
51:39
Speaker 1: people to understand something. I want people to perhaps be
51:42
Speaker 1: taken on a journey. You could also maybe not like
51:45
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. That's cool too, you know, like have
51:48
Speaker 1: a have a reaction to something. No reaction I don't
51:53
Speaker 1: think I did something. And you know, that was one
51:57
Speaker 1: of my biggest challenges as a dancer joining the company,
51:59
Speaker 1: And I had meetings with my boss where he would say,
52:02
Speaker 1: you understand the choreography, you learn it really fast, but
52:05
Speaker 1: you become a little bit complacent. And complacency is not
52:11
Speaker 1: something that I or complacent is not something that I
52:13
Speaker 1: like to be or want to be. And so yeah,
52:18
Speaker 1: I want. I also want. I want people to view
52:21
Speaker 1: me as a good dancer. And because I think and
52:30
Speaker 1: well I know, I've encountered people who think that dancers
52:35
Speaker 1: just share the good parts of what they're dancing on stage,
52:38
Speaker 1: you know, on on social media, they only share the
52:40
Speaker 1: good things, and then they're shocked about what they see
52:43
Speaker 1: on stage. And I want people to know, no, no, no,
52:47
Speaker 1: I'm good at what I do because I work really
52:49
Speaker 1: hard at it and I can put on the pumps,
52:54
Speaker 1: i can do the fashion, I can wash the housewives,
52:57
Speaker 1: but I can still be really good at it at ballet.
53:02
Speaker 2: Would you say what would you say has been perhaps
53:05
Speaker 2: the most difficult part of this journey for you, any
53:10
Speaker 2: specific event or time period outside of the pandemic.
53:15
Speaker 1: Perhaps I think the toughest parts were always when I
53:21
Speaker 1: didn't think that I belonged or that I wasn't, that
53:26
Speaker 1: I that I wasn't right for something because of and
53:30
Speaker 1: not because of of something that I could work on,
53:33
Speaker 1: but something that I just ultimately could not change. Uh,
53:37
Speaker 1: And that that is something that you know, being in
53:42
Speaker 1: a space and trying to succeed in a space that
53:46
Speaker 1: historically says that you cannot succeed in is what is
53:51
Speaker 1: and was and is the biggest challenge, but also what
53:57
Speaker 1: has brought the most reward and also the most gratification
54:01
Speaker 1: in my success knowing that I that I did it,
54:07
Speaker 1: and also knowing that I did it when I was
54:09
Speaker 1: younger and felt like I couldn't do it. So that
54:14
Speaker 1: probably has been the biggest challenge.
54:18
Speaker 2: When someone comes to your social media page now they
54:20
Speaker 2: see this stunning human with two hundred and fifty thousand followers,
54:26
Speaker 2: a ballet dancer. When you look in the mirror, what
54:30
Speaker 2: is it that you see looking back at you?
54:34
Speaker 1: I really see, Okay, I see someone fabulous. I see
54:40
Speaker 1: someone flawless. I see someone flexible. But most importantly, I
54:46
Speaker 1: see someone fearless.
54:48
Speaker 3: Oh, fearless. Great word.
54:51
Speaker 2: All the f's, Look at all those f's just like,
54:53
Speaker 2: right on, que we love it.
54:56
Speaker 3: Okay, we're winding down here.
54:58
Speaker 1: Yeah.
54:59
Speaker 2: Second to last question, reflecting on your impressive career right now,
55:05
Speaker 2: would you say that there is a best piece of
55:09
Speaker 2: advice that you have learned or been offered along the way.
55:13
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I think I mentioned the quote was you know,
55:17
Speaker 1: you're never going to get the perfect wave. It's about
55:19
Speaker 1: writing the wave you're given. And you know, when I
55:22
Speaker 1: was told that I was chosen by my director to
55:25
Speaker 1: represent the Houston Ballet in a ballet competition where you
55:29
Speaker 1: had to film a few variations and dances and write
55:32
Speaker 1: an essay. And one of the variations you had to
55:35
Speaker 1: dance was a one take video recording, and so I
55:38
Speaker 1: was very nervous about it. But I got time to
55:40
Speaker 1: rehearse it and I was rehearsing with him and I
55:43
Speaker 1: fell out of a turn and I stopped and I
55:46
Speaker 1: didn't keep going, and he kind of looked at me
55:49
Speaker 1: and like pause the music. And I was like, oh,
55:51
Speaker 1: he's going to rip into me and be like why
55:53
Speaker 1: did you stop? You know this is you know you
55:55
Speaker 1: have to keep going, And that's when he said the quote,
55:58
Speaker 1: You're never going to get the perfect wave. It's about
55:59
Speaker 1: write the way you're given and it's just for me,
56:02
Speaker 1: it meant something about it's so much more than the steps.
56:06
Speaker 1: It's so much more than this physical thing. You know,
56:09
Speaker 1: when you get into a company or when you get
56:12
Speaker 1: to a really elite level of whatever career you're in,
56:16
Speaker 1: it's less about the technical elements and more about what
56:22
Speaker 1: you're saying and what you're doing. And that was a concept.
56:26
Speaker 1: I thought I had to get my leg to my
56:27
Speaker 1: face and do twenty pirouets. No I could. I could.
56:32
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's saying something, it's having intention behind
56:36
Speaker 1: the step, it's making people feel something. And so that
56:39
Speaker 1: would be my best advice is to is you can
56:41
Speaker 1: work for perfection. You could aim for perfection, you should
56:45
Speaker 1: show up every day for perfection, but the quality of
56:48
Speaker 1: what you're saying and doing is so much more important.
56:51
Speaker 3: For sure.
56:52
Speaker 2: Right now, Harper, you have an opportunity to offer yourself
56:55
Speaker 2: a piece of advice. Looking back on the times where
56:59
Speaker 2: you felt unaccepted as you are, what would you tell yourself?
57:07
Speaker 1: Well, first, I would say keep all the crocs you
57:09
Speaker 1: had because they will come back in style. One of
57:13
Speaker 1: the biggest things that I struggle that happened to me
57:17
Speaker 1: in my life was when I came out and I
57:19
Speaker 1: left high school all right, and I went to performing
57:23
Speaker 1: Arts high school, and it was that fear of returning
57:30
Speaker 1: and I told myself that it wasn't right for me.
57:35
Speaker 1: And I look back at that and it's always my
57:37
Speaker 1: biggest what if moment, because I don't think that I
57:39
Speaker 1: would tell someone now in that same position that you
57:42
Speaker 1: have to run from the fear because there are people
57:46
Speaker 1: there for you, and that you do have community and
57:49
Speaker 1: that there will always be people for that, you know.
57:51
Speaker 1: And I definitely let fear get the best of me
57:55
Speaker 1: and so but I do also strongly believe in everything
57:59
Speaker 1: happening for me, and I feel like it put me
58:02
Speaker 1: in the place where I was meant to be and
58:04
Speaker 1: that it was meant to happen so that I could,
58:07
Speaker 1: you know, be sitting here today. So I guess what
58:10
Speaker 1: I would say to myself is to fear and you know,
58:17
Speaker 1: maybe anxiety or nerves, just it means that you're on
58:21
Speaker 1: the brink of something great, You're about to discover something new,
58:26
Speaker 1: you're about to learn something, you're about to have something
58:30
Speaker 1: pivotal happen to you. Whatever you know, magnitude that is
58:34
Speaker 1: and so if you're scared, to face it head on,
58:38
Speaker 1: because you can do it, and that it's not something
58:42
Speaker 1: to run from because you're going to learn something from it.
58:47
Speaker 1: So that's what I would say.
58:48
Speaker 2: To myself, Feel the fear and do it anyway hard
58:53
Speaker 2: for I love it. I love it. Thank you so
58:56
Speaker 2: much for sitting down with me today. Tell the hurdlers
58:59
Speaker 2: how do they follow along with you? How do they
59:01
Speaker 2: keep up with you? Give me your details.
59:04
Speaker 1: I just tell people google Harbor Waters and I'm the
59:06
Speaker 1: first one to come.
59:07
Speaker 2: Up number one on the internet and in your hearts.
59:13
Speaker 2: I'm over at Hurdle Podcast at Emily a Body, Another
59:17
Speaker 2: hurdle conquered.
59:18
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.