Latest / Get Real with Jim Weiss / Misty Copeland: Prima Ballerina and Founder of The Misty Copeland Foundation

Transcript

Misty Copeland: Prima Ballerina and Founder of The Misty Copeland Foundation · Get Real with Jim Weiss

0:00
Speaker 1: We often talk to people who have these adverse backgrounds
0:03
Speaker 1: and do remarkable things. Yeah, isn't it interesting?
0:06
Speaker 2: A little teaser for the episode that she said her
0:08
Speaker 2: first ballet class was at thirteen. She's in Jim Schwartz
0:11
Speaker 2: in a gymnasium. The teacher said, you're a prodigy, having
0:16
Speaker 2: never done ballet. She has this poise about her. You know,
0:20
Speaker 2: it's probably just so innate to.
0:22
Speaker 1: Her in Nate. Yeah, it's a name. Yeah, people are
0:24
Speaker 1: born to things, and I do really believe that, and
0:28
Speaker 1: I think she's fulfilling it, which is so cool.
0:31
Speaker 2: So I think for our audience, what I would love
0:33
Speaker 2: is to hear some context.
0:35
Speaker 1: Jim, how did you meet Misty Well? I met Misty
0:37
Speaker 1: at Davos in our total amazing mutual friend Shelley's Alice
0:43
Speaker 1: was doing a female QUOTIONI event. It was a very natural,
0:49
Speaker 1: immediate connection, and then we connected with Karen Campbell, who
0:54
Speaker 1: runs her foundation and something about it as you know,
0:57
Speaker 1: music and movement. We've talked about it and community. That's
1:01
Speaker 1: what these people do, you know, And everybody says, oh,
1:04
Speaker 1: we need it now more than ever. When when didn't
1:06
Speaker 1: we need it? I mean, we always need community. When
1:09
Speaker 1: she was growing up. She needed it, she didn't have it.
1:12
Speaker 1: She got it through the dance experience. She's recreated it
1:16
Speaker 1: through this charity. A lot of it's the three things.
1:19
Speaker 1: It's music, movement, and community, which is what I've been doing,
1:23
Speaker 1: you know, probably since i was a little kid myself, right,
1:27
Speaker 1: And the things that get you through it are your communities.
1:31
Speaker 2: Isn't that interesting how community gives you a belief system.
1:34
Speaker 2: It creates sort of the lottice work that lets you up.
1:36
Speaker 1: We have to tell the story of why it's important,
1:39
Speaker 1: and it's an easy sell.
1:40
Speaker 2: We don't have to pitch you on listening to Misty,
1:42
Speaker 2: so just don't miss it.
1:43
Speaker 1: Don't miss it. You have got to see this one.
1:46
Speaker 1: It's so good, all right, Missy Copeland, welcome to Get Real.
1:51
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. Finally, I'm so excited.
1:55
Speaker 1: Finally and now, well, you know you're busy, you've kind
1:58
Speaker 1: of had so much going on. But let's that's the
2:00
Speaker 1: biggest question, because this is all about our health this podcast.
2:04
Speaker 1: How's your hip feeling.
2:05
Speaker 2: I'm good. I actually took my second ballet class today
2:09
Speaker 2: this morning. Since my hip replacement. It's been five months
2:12
Speaker 2: and I'm progressing like pretty quickly and feeling good and
2:17
Speaker 2: hopeful and excited at the moment to be just taking
2:21
Speaker 2: class to enjoy moving my body and not for any
2:24
Speaker 2: end reason result.
2:27
Speaker 1: Okay, but you can do it, right, So this replacement
2:30
Speaker 1: seems to be doing the track.
2:33
Speaker 2: No, it's a sus I wouldn't say I can do it.
2:36
Speaker 2: I'm very limited right now in class with what I
2:40
Speaker 2: can do, and it feels so foreign to it. Literally,
2:44
Speaker 2: my response has been to laugh and giggle when I'm
2:47
Speaker 2: in ballet class because I literally feel like I've been
2:50
Speaker 2: placed in someone else's body. I mean someone who's very tight,
2:53
Speaker 2: like my husband. I'm like I'm in his body doing ballet.
2:58
Speaker 2: I've never experienced this feeling in my body and feeling
3:03
Speaker 2: really limited in terms of motion. But it just feels
3:05
Speaker 2: so good to move my upper body and not to
3:08
Speaker 2: be in the pain that I was in and to
3:10
Speaker 2: be doing it because I love dancing.
3:13
Speaker 1: So it relates so much to what your charity is
3:16
Speaker 1: all about, like you live it, right, I mean in
3:19
Speaker 1: what people can benefit and how they can benefit from moving.
3:23
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think it's so deep. I think that there's
3:26
Speaker 2: that layer of the physicality of it and the importance
3:29
Speaker 2: of moving our body. The importance of that connection between
3:32
Speaker 2: the emotional, the mental, and the physical. I think, to me,
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Speaker 2: like the deeper layers that are really the primary foundation
3:41
Speaker 2: of the Misty Coplan Foundation and of our b Bold
3:43
Speaker 2: programs is really that every community, we all connect through
3:51
Speaker 2: relationship through language through movement. Back to the beginning of time,
3:55
Speaker 2: like movement was a storytelling tool and basis for every community,
4:00
Speaker 2: and I still think that it's so valuable and it's
4:03
Speaker 2: so important for our communities today to experience connection in
4:07
Speaker 2: that way, And that to me is at the root
4:11
Speaker 2: of why I've continued to do it for as long
4:14
Speaker 2: as I have. I don't think that it's just been
4:16
Speaker 2: to use it for exercise, but a need to have
4:21
Speaker 2: an outlet for creativity and communication in a way that
4:26
Speaker 2: really worked for me and my personality and the circumstances
4:31
Speaker 2: I grew up in and the type of person I
4:33
Speaker 2: was because of that, how I was shaped by those experiences,
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Speaker 2: and dance spoke so beautifully to how I could communicate
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Speaker 2: in a way that worked for me.
4:44
Speaker 1: Well, let's take you back to when you could move
4:46
Speaker 1: like a thirteen year old or something, So that's when
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Speaker 1: you discovered ballet, right, around thirteen, which is a little
4:53
Speaker 1: later than most. Right, because people do all these things gymnastics,
4:58
Speaker 1: parents push them into this. Right, what did dance give
5:02
Speaker 1: you that you didn't get anywhere else? And how did
5:04
Speaker 1: you come to it?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, to get people an understanding of just how unique
5:09
Speaker 2: Mike my introduction to it was is I come from
5:13
Speaker 2: a background where survival was my everyday existence. It was
5:18
Speaker 2: whether we were going to have a roof over our heads.
5:20
Speaker 2: And this is probably from the ages of two to
5:24
Speaker 2: maybe like fourteen, No that's not true. No, maybe like
5:27
Speaker 2: fifteen that we were houseless. And my mom married and
5:32
Speaker 2: divorced now five times, and there wasn't really ever like
5:36
Speaker 2: a permanent father figure in my life, and it was
5:38
Speaker 2: just a lot of movement and chaos. And by the
5:42
Speaker 2: time I was thirteen years old, the type of person
5:45
Speaker 2: I had developed had developed into I'm fourth of six children. Again,
5:49
Speaker 2: I was in a single parent home, and I was
5:51
Speaker 2: so introverted that I mean a lot of people I
5:54
Speaker 2: grew up with and went to school with seeing them
5:56
Speaker 2: now thought I was mute. There was this fear of
6:00
Speaker 2: letting people know what was happening in my outside life
6:04
Speaker 2: outside of school that I didn't want anyone to be
6:07
Speaker 2: close to me, and so I became this shell of
6:10
Speaker 2: a person that had no outlet. I had no structure,
6:14
Speaker 2: I had no discipline. My mom was working many jobs,
6:17
Speaker 2: and we were sleeping on couches or in motels, people's homes.
6:21
Speaker 2: I didn't know. It was not your typical traditional upbringing
6:25
Speaker 2: by any means. And the Boys and Girls Club was
6:27
Speaker 2: a community center that was like two blocks away from
6:30
Speaker 2: my public school, and so that became this second home,
6:34
Speaker 2: I mean maybe first home.
6:36
Speaker 1: You know.
6:36
Speaker 2: It really felt like a sense of home and community.
6:40
Speaker 2: Mentorship was developed there, like the first time I experienced
6:43
Speaker 2: what that was. And it was there at a Boys
6:45
Speaker 2: and Girls club that the local ballet teacher was looking
6:48
Speaker 2: for literally kids like me, to give opportunity and access
6:52
Speaker 2: to to move their bodies to experience this discipline. And
6:57
Speaker 2: I took my first ballet class on a basketball court
7:00
Speaker 2: wearing my gym clothes, and she immediately said, I think
7:04
Speaker 2: you're a prodigy, and I think this is something you
7:06
Speaker 2: could do for professionally. That's all very foreign to me.
7:09
Speaker 2: It was like, who is this crazy lady? What are
7:12
Speaker 2: you talking about. I'm the farthest thing from ballet. I
7:15
Speaker 2: had never heard classical music. I didn't really understand what
7:17
Speaker 2: any of it meant. And then by the time she
7:19
Speaker 2: got me into her school and I was there on
7:22
Speaker 2: full scholarship, that was when I really understood how much
7:25
Speaker 2: I needed it. It gave me structure in my life
7:28
Speaker 2: in a way I never had, and it eased so
7:32
Speaker 2: much of the fears that I had because of my circumstances.
7:37
Speaker 2: I started to develop at such a quick rate. I
7:40
Speaker 2: was so underdeveloped at that age, and it just kind
7:44
Speaker 2: of took over in a way that didn't feel like, oh, Okay,
7:47
Speaker 2: this is something I'm going to do professionally, but it
7:49
Speaker 2: was like, no, this is something I have to have
7:51
Speaker 2: in my life in order to survive and in order
7:53
Speaker 2: to continue to grow in order to thrive. And I
7:56
Speaker 2: couldn't imagine my life without it.
7:58
Speaker 1: Well, a lot of people talk about movement. I gotta
8:01
Speaker 1: get out every day, I gotta walk or you know,
8:04
Speaker 1: and sometimes you can't always do that. Obviously, you were
8:09
Speaker 1: yourself hobbled and handicapped and now have the hip replacement
8:13
Speaker 1: to help you do it. What is the movement and
8:15
Speaker 1: the dance still giving you that I gave you that?
8:18
Speaker 2: That's such a great question. You know something that I
8:21
Speaker 2: often talk about with young kids through the Bee Bold program,
8:24
Speaker 2: or kids that i've mentor dancers I speak to, students
8:27
Speaker 2: I speak to to me. It's not about like say,
8:30
Speaker 2: this is something that you pick up as a hobby
8:33
Speaker 2: or just or maybe you are interested in making this
8:35
Speaker 2: a profession, And it doesn't go in that direction. But
8:38
Speaker 2: it's not something that I think you can really ever
8:41
Speaker 2: leave behind. I think it really touches and affects us
8:43
Speaker 2: in such deep ways, like the art to do. And
8:46
Speaker 2: so for me, dance has given me the structure of
8:49
Speaker 2: how I want to and still live my life like.
8:52
Speaker 2: It's given me this incredible grounding and foundation, and it's
8:57
Speaker 2: what I bring with me into every space, if that
9:00
Speaker 2: makes sense. It's just this sense of home and community
9:05
Speaker 2: that has given me the confidence. There are these just
9:08
Speaker 2: incredible transferable skills and tools that I bring with me,
9:12
Speaker 2: whether it's sitting on a board of directors or running
9:16
Speaker 2: my own foundation or as a writer, as a mother.
9:20
Speaker 2: It's given me, you know, the grace and the resilience
9:22
Speaker 2: and the strength, the perseverance, the empathy. I mean, the
9:26
Speaker 2: list goes on of all the things that I still
9:30
Speaker 2: get from it. And then as well as what I
9:33
Speaker 2: mean people would assume is just the joy of moving,
9:37
Speaker 2: the ability to use it as a storytelling tool, which
9:41
Speaker 2: is what I spent the last twenty five years of
9:43
Speaker 2: my career doing. And there's something so empowering about using
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Speaker 2: your body to express that. It's so uniquely individual on
9:51
Speaker 2: everyone's body and through their lived experiences.
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Speaker 1: So I didn't know the Boys and Girls Club angle,
9:58
Speaker 1: so I mean I've helped support them. I know they're
10:01
Speaker 1: actually struggling right now. The impact is so big. It's
10:05
Speaker 1: unbelievable how that probably had a big impact on how
10:08
Speaker 1: you've organized now, I get it. You know, when I
10:11
Speaker 1: was at one of your receptions for the charity, I
10:14
Speaker 1: was like, well, what is this. It's like it's some
10:16
Speaker 1: hybrid I have not seen before. It was like different,
10:19
Speaker 1: and I think you've kind of brought those elements together
10:23
Speaker 1: of movement and dance. But what you experienced at Boys
10:27
Speaker 1: and Girls Club, I mean the energy that was there
10:30
Speaker 1: and you just had your gala too, I'm sure it
10:32
Speaker 1: was the same. There's just such an incredible energy that
10:35
Speaker 1: comes from it.
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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for saying that and pointing that out.
10:40
Speaker 2: I mean, it's definitely the foundation was laid at the
10:43
Speaker 2: Boys and Girls Club, the community that they're creating for
10:46
Speaker 2: so many that don't have community, or that don't have
10:49
Speaker 2: family and don't have access to sports, or just being
10:55
Speaker 2: in an environment where they're kind of creating leaders. And
10:58
Speaker 2: that's really been I think at the foundation of my
11:02
Speaker 2: experience in that space and what helped to shape the
11:06
Speaker 2: foundation and the programs that we are offering.
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Speaker 1: I've heard this over the years. I remember growing up,
11:11
Speaker 1: I played a lot of sports and people would say
11:14
Speaker 1: ballet dancers were like the best athletes that weren't viewed
11:19
Speaker 1: as athletes. How do you view but is it a
11:20
Speaker 1: sport or is it an art? What is it? Yeah?
11:23
Speaker 2: I think what makes it so incredibly unique and special
11:28
Speaker 2: is that it's a combination of those two things and
11:31
Speaker 2: it's such a beautiful way of not just simply focusing
11:36
Speaker 2: on the physicality for physicality's sake. And it's not really
11:41
Speaker 2: an outwardly competitive field. We're not competing for positions or
11:47
Speaker 2: winning certain medals. That's not the basis of what we do.
11:51
Speaker 2: It's really it's an art form. But it to me
11:55
Speaker 2: is equally if not more, physical and intricate and new
12:00
Speaker 2: wants in what it is we are, the physical feats
12:04
Speaker 2: that we are working towards, striving towards, and then you
12:09
Speaker 2: add that layer. So it's like taking your most elite
12:12
Speaker 2: basketball player and then telling them to also be the
12:17
Speaker 2: Meryl Streep on top of it and tell a story
12:21
Speaker 2: at the highest level. To be able to communicate what
12:25
Speaker 2: you're training and your physicality into a story without using
12:29
Speaker 2: words that can translate to anywhere in the world that
12:33
Speaker 2: you travel to, and everyone's going to understand what you're
12:36
Speaker 2: trying to say. So I think it is so incredibly special.
12:39
Speaker 2: I think this is why it's been around four over
12:41
Speaker 2: five hundred years. I think that communities, our societies need
12:48
Speaker 2: it as much as we really are suffering in a
12:52
Speaker 2: lot of ways in terms of funding. But it's something
12:55
Speaker 2: that we return to again and again, especially in the
12:58
Speaker 2: times of despair and when we need to be united.
13:02
Speaker 1: No doubt. How did you become the first black principal
13:05
Speaker 1: dancer at American Ballet Theater with this background and what
13:10
Speaker 1: is different than in the world of ballet that's different
13:14
Speaker 1: from now that made that possible? Do you think so.
13:17
Speaker 2: Much has changed in the trajectory of ballet when it
13:20
Speaker 2: was created versus now. I mean, especially it is an
13:22
Speaker 2: American art form now, which is still pretty fresh. I mean,
13:25
Speaker 2: American Ballet Theater has been around for what eighty five years,
13:28
Speaker 2: and it was not the first ballet company here in America.
13:31
Speaker 2: But all of that to say, me coming into American
13:33
Speaker 2: Ballet Theater was the only black woman. I was the
13:35
Speaker 2: only black woman there for the first decade of my career,
13:39
Speaker 2: So that goes to show how little diversity there is.
13:43
Speaker 2: There has been some small growth and shifts, I would say,
13:49
Speaker 2: mostly in like the last five years, or maybe a
13:52
Speaker 2: little before then, like at the start of the pandemic,
13:54
Speaker 2: with the murder of George Floyd, with you know, this
13:57
Speaker 2: uprise of Black Lives Matter, the ballet world really reacted
14:01
Speaker 2: and responded in a way that felt the most impactful
14:06
Speaker 2: of my entire career to see real conversations happening and
14:10
Speaker 2: instead of just me being alone and the poster girl
14:13
Speaker 2: for diversity in ballet. But I would say that I
14:16
Speaker 2: think that my success has been because of the incredible
14:19
Speaker 2: support that I've had outside of the ballet world. I've
14:23
Speaker 2: had an amazing group of mentors, specifically black women that
14:28
Speaker 2: come from all walks of life and have maybe been
14:31
Speaker 2: the only or the first to do whatever they do,
14:34
Speaker 2: and to have that kind of guidance and support has
14:36
Speaker 2: been invaluable for me. I mean as well, I think
14:39
Speaker 2: as my own strength and resilience and perseverance and talent
14:43
Speaker 2: and willingness to really stand up for myself and advocate
14:47
Speaker 2: for myself, which is really difficult in this culture and
14:50
Speaker 2: in this in the ballet world because it's not something
14:53
Speaker 2: that we're told we should or can do. And then
14:57
Speaker 2: you add being a minority, and you know, being a
14:59
Speaker 2: black woman on top of it, and it's like, what
15:01
Speaker 2: are you thinking? You cannot speak up for yourself? And
15:04
Speaker 2: I was doing all of these things kind of going
15:06
Speaker 2: against the grain, but I think doing it in a
15:08
Speaker 2: way where it was coming from a very respectful place
15:12
Speaker 2: of wanting to uplift my community, bring the ballet world
15:16
Speaker 2: with me into all of these spaces that I've been
15:19
Speaker 2: so privileged to be a part of outside of the
15:22
Speaker 2: ballet community. That's been really important for me.
15:26
Speaker 1: Do you think that added to the pressure to do
15:28
Speaker 1: it or when did you kind of know I got this?
15:32
Speaker 1: It just kind of happened over time.
15:35
Speaker 2: No, there definitely was a turning point. I mean I
15:37
Speaker 2: think it was probably the first time we had one
15:41
Speaker 2: of the greatest choreographers, I would say of our time,
15:44
Speaker 2: of my generation. His name is Alexey Ramonsky, and he
15:48
Speaker 2: created a new interpretation, his own version of an old
15:52
Speaker 2: Russian folktale and ballet classic called the Firebird. And I
15:56
Speaker 2: was not yet a principal dancer, and he cast me
15:59
Speaker 2: as the lead as the Firebird in his ballet, which
16:02
Speaker 2: is unheard of. It had a long trajectory of a
16:05
Speaker 2: career already, and had not been given an opportunity to
16:08
Speaker 2: perform the lead in a classical work at twenty nine
16:11
Speaker 2: years old, which is considered old to not be promoted yet.
16:14
Speaker 2: And I think him taking that chance on me, and
16:16
Speaker 2: then me proving myself that I could lead the entire
16:20
Speaker 2: company and perform in a principal role, gave them I
16:23
Speaker 2: think trust in me being able to do that. It
16:26
Speaker 2: kind of opened up the door. But I would say
16:28
Speaker 2: it was probably like the season leading up to the
16:31
Speaker 2: year that I was promoted, so I was would be
16:32
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen. I was given a lot of opportunity to
16:35
Speaker 2: perform principal roles all over the world, and I think
16:39
Speaker 2: I stepped up to the plate and was just really
16:40
Speaker 2: ready for the opportunity and really understood what it meant
16:44
Speaker 2: to be the first black woman to step into a
16:45
Speaker 2: lot of those roles in our company's history.
16:49
Speaker 1: Do you think Ballet is moving forward when it comes
16:52
Speaker 1: to representation or kind of stalling or falling back? Where
16:56
Speaker 1: are the gaps? No?
16:57
Speaker 2: I definitely think that we're moving forward. And I wouldn't
16:59
Speaker 2: be a part of continuing to really give this art
17:04
Speaker 2: form the platform that I stand on if I didn't
17:06
Speaker 2: believe and have hope for what it looks like. But
17:10
Speaker 2: you know, I think that moving forward has been a
17:12
Speaker 2: bit uneven, but there's definitely more awareness and visibility than
17:18
Speaker 2: when I was growing up. I think that to me,
17:21
Speaker 2: what's been really important is that we're seeing people in
17:25
Speaker 2: leadership roles who look like the people that they're serving.
17:29
Speaker 2: And so for me, even just I sit on the
17:33
Speaker 2: board of American Maley Theater, I sit on the board
17:34
Speaker 2: of Lincoln Center of the Shed. You know, these big
17:37
Speaker 2: arts institutions in New York City, and it's a really
17:39
Speaker 2: big deal as a black woman and specifically as an
17:42
Speaker 2: artist to be able to have a seat at the
17:46
Speaker 2: table that's where we're going to start to see. I
17:48
Speaker 2: think the trickle down effect of real impact. You know,
17:53
Speaker 2: to be in a place where you can make real
17:57
Speaker 2: decisions that will impact these institutions.
18:00
Speaker 1: You're curating the ballet festival at the Joyce Theater of
18:03
Speaker 1: this August, right, what do you want audiences to experience
18:07
Speaker 1: that maybe they don't usually get from ballet?
18:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much for bringing that up. I'm
18:12
Speaker 2: really excited about this. This isn't something that I often do, Like,
18:15
Speaker 2: I'm not a curator of art. I'm a performer of
18:18
Speaker 2: art and a lover. But I want people to experience
18:22
Speaker 2: ballet as something that is evolving and that feels alive,
18:27
Speaker 2: and I think that it can often feel exclusive and intimidating,
18:32
Speaker 2: and this, to me, is an opportunity to bring artists
18:35
Speaker 2: and voices together that really reflect where we are in
18:39
Speaker 2: the world. And it's what I'm kind of calling this
18:44
Speaker 2: is a representation of black, brown and queer voices in
18:48
Speaker 2: the arts, and I think that this is where we
18:50
Speaker 2: should be going. I don't think that it should just
18:52
Speaker 2: be one section of people, because then you're not going
18:54
Speaker 2: to see that reflected in the audience members if they
18:57
Speaker 2: don't see themselves and their stories presented on the stage,
19:01
Speaker 2: and so I think this is a real opportunity for
19:03
Speaker 2: me to dive into that and give a stage to
19:07
Speaker 2: that community.
19:09
Speaker 1: I just wanted to talk Centers and the Oscars moment
19:12
Speaker 1: your first dance appearance after the hip surgery. I want
19:14
Speaker 1: to hear how it happened and what that experience was like,
19:18
Speaker 1: and do you think that exposure sparks some productive new
19:22
Speaker 1: discussion about ballet and the performing arts.
19:25
Speaker 2: Great group of creatives who really, I think have important
19:29
Speaker 2: voices and things to say. When I was approached about
19:33
Speaker 2: performing at the Oscars, I think that I was coming
19:36
Speaker 2: from a place of yes. And my manager was like,
19:38
Speaker 2: but you just had hip replacement. I was like, well,
19:41
Speaker 2: you're going to figure this out. I don't know what
19:43
Speaker 2: it's going to look like. And you know, they were
19:45
Speaker 2: very Ryan Coogler and his team. They were like, just
19:48
Speaker 2: having your presence there is so important as a Black
19:51
Speaker 2: American artist and what the scene represented in the film.
19:56
Speaker 2: Ryan just said, even if you just stood there, just
20:00
Speaker 2: having you like walk out and stand there would be
20:02
Speaker 2: impactful and meaningful. And I said, are you kidding me?
20:06
Speaker 2: I can't step on the Oscar stage and just stay there. Yeah,
20:10
Speaker 2: They're like what is she doing? So I was like, listen,
20:13
Speaker 2: I'm going to bring my point shoes and I'm going
20:15
Speaker 2: to figure out what I can do. So I stepped
20:17
Speaker 2: into the studio I think two days before, and put
20:20
Speaker 2: my point shoes on and figured out safely with my
20:23
Speaker 2: doctor what steps I could do without hurting myself. But
20:27
Speaker 2: I do think that moments like that, and I thought
20:30
Speaker 2: about this, whether it was my work performing with Prints
20:34
Speaker 2: for many years or stepping on the stage of American
20:37
Speaker 2: Music Awards with Taylor Swift, those moments really helped to
20:40
Speaker 2: break down this idea that ballet only belongs to one
20:44
Speaker 2: type of person or audience or world. And I always
20:49
Speaker 2: see these opportunities as a moment to show what's possible.
20:55
Speaker 2: And I think that the performing arts are just so
20:57
Speaker 2: deeply connected to culture and just store telling, to music
21:01
Speaker 2: and to film, and so it intersects with mainstream culture
21:05
Speaker 2: in a truly authentic way. And I just hope that
21:08
Speaker 2: people can still see that and understand that that it's
21:12
Speaker 2: not this separate thing. And you know, as Stimothy chalameat
21:14
Speaker 2: is something that's dying and no one cares about.
21:17
Speaker 1: Have you guys talked about it? Have you and he
21:20
Speaker 1: gotten to talk about it.
21:22
Speaker 2: No, No, I didn't get to connect with him. It's
21:26
Speaker 2: so layered and complicated, and I know underneath like what
21:31
Speaker 2: he was trying to say, and he's comparing the film
21:33
Speaker 2: world to that he doesn't want it to end up
21:35
Speaker 2: becoming this dying art form, like this isn't a new conversation,
21:39
Speaker 2: having this conversation for years and with opera vallet. But
21:44
Speaker 2: I think it really hit a lot of us because
21:47
Speaker 2: of stating that no one cares about it and just
21:49
Speaker 2: because something isn't popular doesn't mean that it's not culturally relevant.
21:54
Speaker 2: It doesn't mean that there's not value and there's not
21:57
Speaker 2: lasting value for it in our cultures. And I think
22:01
Speaker 2: that that was just a misrepresentation of what it is
22:04
Speaker 2: and how people feel about it. And it really is
22:07
Speaker 2: difficult when you don't have a government that care and
22:11
Speaker 2: want to fund the arts in the way a lot
22:13
Speaker 2: of other countries experience it.
22:16
Speaker 1: Well, you know, breakdown's lead to break through. So I
22:19
Speaker 1: say that maybe uncomfortable moment. Some of my best relationships
22:23
Speaker 1: start with a fight, you know, and or a disagreement,
22:26
Speaker 1: and we'll have to figure out some way to get
22:28
Speaker 1: everyone together, maybe here to have that conversation, right.
22:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so interesting because it's been talked about so
22:35
Speaker 2: much in the media. But he didn't dance himself, like
22:38
Speaker 2: he didn't take ballet, but he grew up around it
22:40
Speaker 2: and I know his mother and his sister danced, and
22:42
Speaker 2: growing up in this world of live theater and performing
22:46
Speaker 2: arts in this way that it impacted him in a
22:49
Speaker 2: deep way and is the reason that he is the
22:51
Speaker 2: actor and the artist that he is today.
22:54
Speaker 1: Did it wake some people up? I mean, obviously we
22:57
Speaker 1: have to fill the funding gaps and that's what we're
22:59
Speaker 1: doing here, and you know, all these things really.
23:02
Speaker 2: Matter, so there's a lot of work to be done.
23:05
Speaker 2: But I do think it definitely kind of there was
23:07
Speaker 2: a boost that happened in that in those months. I
23:11
Speaker 2: mean literally there were up you know, in the tickets
23:14
Speaker 2: gate in the tickets, you know, because of those conversations
23:19
Speaker 2: that were opened up because of the comments he made.
23:21
Speaker 2: But that's not lasting impact. But I do think it's
23:24
Speaker 2: important though.
23:24
Speaker 1: Well I think it is. I think that one if
23:26
Speaker 1: you just get one person to go to that show
23:30
Speaker 1: and it's what your charity does, and really want to
23:33
Speaker 1: talk about that too. But another thing we talk a
23:36
Speaker 1: lot about our brand partnerships on this thing is that's
23:39
Speaker 1: what we do in my firm and what I do.
23:42
Speaker 1: How do you decide which brand partnerships to take on.
23:45
Speaker 1: Is there anything that's coming up you're particularly excited about?
23:48
Speaker 1: And do they have to share some of these values
23:51
Speaker 1: relative to movement or kids or ballet or arts. I mean,
23:57
Speaker 1: what matters to you when it comes to that.
24:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, It's definitely been important to me from the time
24:03
Speaker 2: I was given my first opportunities, even just thinking about
24:06
Speaker 2: when Prince came into my life and wanted me to
24:08
Speaker 2: perform with him, and it was really thinking about like
24:11
Speaker 2: what impact can this make for the ballet world, Like
24:14
Speaker 2: how is this going to benefit in a positive way
24:19
Speaker 2: my art form? And I feel like that's kind of
24:21
Speaker 2: what I'm always thinking about in the partnerships that I have,
24:24
Speaker 2: whether it be a brand or a collaboration, that it
24:26
Speaker 2: has to feel authentic to me. I feel like I've
24:29
Speaker 2: always been comfortable like in that space and wanting my
24:32
Speaker 2: partnerships to align with my values and my lifestyle. And
24:36
Speaker 2: I don't think that it always has to necessarily connect
24:38
Speaker 2: to movement, but whether it be about just having a
24:41
Speaker 2: healthy body image, a health and wellness space, being a mother,
24:46
Speaker 2: being a mentor, being an athlete, being an artist, behind
24:50
Speaker 2: women and their power and their voices, and so settled
24:54
Speaker 2: no to a lot of things that I think people
24:56
Speaker 2: would be like, what, but that to me, it's really
25:00
Speaker 2: about in the long term, what is this doing for
25:04
Speaker 2: me and what my mission is and my goals are.
25:07
Speaker 1: Well, my thinking and creating awareness around this is maybe
25:11
Speaker 1: there's a group that will step up and align with
25:15
Speaker 1: the charity and kind of what all the goals are.
25:18
Speaker 1: Let's just spend a minute on that, you know, let's
25:20
Speaker 1: talk about the thing you created, what's the purpose and
25:24
Speaker 1: how it's grown, and where you see it going and
25:26
Speaker 1: what's the vision and maybe we'll figure out some matches.
25:31
Speaker 2: Amazing. I love that. Well, this really grew out of
25:35
Speaker 2: my own experience and I think a need for more
25:39
Speaker 2: access and just an opportunity to access the arts and
25:44
Speaker 2: specifically ballet in communities that it's like a dance desert
25:48
Speaker 2: for them and they don't have the opportunity to be
25:50
Speaker 2: exposed to it. And so very fortunate to have Darren Walker,
25:54
Speaker 2: who was then the president of the Ford Foundation, who's
25:57
Speaker 2: been a mentor of mine for many years that came
26:00
Speaker 2: to me during the pandemic and was just like, what
26:03
Speaker 2: are we doing. It's like, I'm not going to be
26:05
Speaker 2: in this position forever, and what can I help you
26:08
Speaker 2: to build that will be lasting and impactful? And He's
26:12
Speaker 2: like throw out some ideas and I was like, I
26:15
Speaker 2: would love to create a foundation and be able to
26:18
Speaker 2: have someone like that behind me. Has been really incredible
26:21
Speaker 2: in connecting me with all the right people that have
26:24
Speaker 2: helped to build it. But it's really a foundation that's
26:26
Speaker 2: focused on access. We've created be Bold, which is our
26:29
Speaker 2: signature program. It's a free after school ballet program and
26:33
Speaker 2: it's right now mainly for kids in Harlement in the
26:36
Speaker 2: Bronx because I know firsthand what it means for ballet
26:40
Speaker 2: to exist in those communities, because it's not always something
26:44
Speaker 2: that's been welcome to people who look like those who
26:48
Speaker 2: live in Harlem and in the Bronx and accessible to them.
26:51
Speaker 2: But it's not just about, you know, training dancers, it's
26:53
Speaker 2: really about creating future leaders in those communities and having
26:57
Speaker 2: kids that understand value of arts and hopefully they will
27:02
Speaker 2: be the ones that are attending and buying tickets in
27:05
Speaker 2: the future. And so it's really meaningful work.
27:08
Speaker 1: I feel like it hit so many buttons, so many
27:11
Speaker 1: important connected points. Right. It's growing, right, I mean, it's
27:15
Speaker 1: just blowing up, growing rapidly.
27:18
Speaker 2: It's been four years since we've started. It's been I
27:20
Speaker 2: believe three years since we've had the program, the signature
27:23
Speaker 2: program up and running. B BOLD stands for Ballet Explorations
27:27
Speaker 2: Ballet Offers Leadership Development. So I think again that that
27:30
Speaker 2: shows it's bigger than ballet. Ballet is the tool vehicle,
27:34
Speaker 2: but it's really about getting these kids into a space
27:37
Speaker 2: where they don't have screens in front of them. They're
27:40
Speaker 2: in community, they feel safe, they're hearing live music from
27:44
Speaker 2: teaching artists who look like them, who often live in
27:46
Speaker 2: their communities. Because that's important for us as well, that
27:49
Speaker 2: we're getting people that are from their communities and we're
27:52
Speaker 2: training them in the curriculum that we've built. But we
27:55
Speaker 2: also have b Boulder, which is a program that's for
27:57
Speaker 2: older adults in those same communities to give them also
28:01
Speaker 2: the access and opportunity to move their bodies to be
28:03
Speaker 2: with one another. And then we have b BOLD Next Steps,
28:06
Speaker 2: which is for those who show promise in our B
28:09
Speaker 2: BOLD program, which is ages five to twelve, and if
28:13
Speaker 2: they are showing promise and they have some of the talent,
28:17
Speaker 2: then we will give them opportunity to get further their
28:20
Speaker 2: training in elite ballet schools. So alvin Alee, the Dance
28:23
Speaker 2: Theater of Harlem ninety second Street. Why and everything's paid
28:27
Speaker 2: for their transportations, taken care of all those hurdles that
28:31
Speaker 2: typically would stop kids from furthering their training.
28:36
Speaker 1: So you're filling the gap here boys and girls clubs,
28:38
Speaker 1: but maybe things like programs like to fill some gap, right,
28:42
Speaker 1: And how many kids have been impacted on? I was
28:46
Speaker 1: at your event the first of that. I want to
28:49
Speaker 1: you know, somebody got up and you could tell there
28:51
Speaker 1: was like real the beauty of this organization as you
28:55
Speaker 1: can see the impact right in your face. It's not
28:58
Speaker 1: like some oh I guess money and I don't know
29:01
Speaker 1: what happened, and it's like you directly impact lives.
29:05
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, thank you for saying that we've reached
29:08
Speaker 2: I believe like close to five hundred kids in the
29:11
Speaker 2: time that the program has been up and running. And
29:14
Speaker 2: it's really important about the places that we our program
29:18
Speaker 2: lives in. So it's not just kind of available anywhere.
29:21
Speaker 2: This is not something that we're doing in school. It
29:23
Speaker 2: was really specific that the need was for after school programming,
29:27
Speaker 2: and so it can be difficult too to find the
29:29
Speaker 2: right partners that have the appropriate space and the floor
29:32
Speaker 2: and a lot of things that are involved in making
29:36
Speaker 2: it work. But it's definitely, I think, filling in need
29:40
Speaker 2: in these communities where a lot of these kids aren't
29:44
Speaker 2: necessarily moving their bodies even in its school day and
29:48
Speaker 2: are often on their screens or don't have a really structured,
29:53
Speaker 2: our creative outlet in their lives.
29:56
Speaker 1: You've obviously done so much, but you've also built a beautiful,
30:00
Speaker 1: full life with your husband and son. Did having a
30:03
Speaker 1: family motivate your decision maybe to step away from the
30:07
Speaker 1: stage a little sooner to get into purpose around what
30:10
Speaker 1: you're doing. I mean, how do they fit into all this?
30:14
Speaker 1: Because I of course got to meet them quickly when
30:17
Speaker 1: I saw you, But this is like everyone has kind
30:20
Speaker 1: of normal lives, so tell us about yours.
30:23
Speaker 2: When I first decided to kind of take time and
30:26
Speaker 2: step away from the stage, which was before my farewell
30:29
Speaker 2: performance this past October of twenty twenty five, it was
30:33
Speaker 2: really out of a need to do more and I
30:35
Speaker 2: feel like my impact can go farther than being a
30:38
Speaker 2: performer on the stage and so, but having the support
30:41
Speaker 2: of my husband has been really really impactful and important
30:46
Speaker 2: for me. My husband and I have been together since
30:48
Speaker 2: I was twenty one years old, over twenty years now,
30:51
Speaker 2: and he was my first boyfriend, and he's really been
30:55
Speaker 2: there with me through this entire journey and understands what
30:59
Speaker 2: I've been through and what it takes to get to
31:01
Speaker 2: where I am. And I really wanted to wait to
31:05
Speaker 2: have a family, grow my family, and now I have
31:07
Speaker 2: a four year old jackson. Till I was in a
31:10
Speaker 2: position where I feel like I could really focus on
31:13
Speaker 2: raising him, and that was really important for me to
31:16
Speaker 2: not be in a theater all day, which not everyone
31:18
Speaker 2: has this privilege. And I've been really intentional about building
31:23
Speaker 2: this life that I watched my mother in the way
31:26
Speaker 2: that she struggled and we struggled, and that it was
31:28
Speaker 2: really important that I have a real foundation and a
31:31
Speaker 2: real partnership with my husband and before I brought a
31:35
Speaker 2: son into the world. But he definitely is the motivation
31:39
Speaker 2: behind a lot of the things that I do, even
31:41
Speaker 2: shaping how I'm looking at these programs for young people.
31:44
Speaker 2: It's what I want for my son and even just
31:48
Speaker 2: understanding child development in a different way than when I
31:52
Speaker 2: started the program. But there everything. You know, It's definitely
31:58
Speaker 2: made me focus more on what legacy means for me
32:02
Speaker 2: where I put my energy. But I again, I have
32:05
Speaker 2: a very supportive family that even Jackson at four, like,
32:10
Speaker 2: he does have some compassion and understanding when I'm running
32:15
Speaker 2: around and doing a million things and I show him
32:17
Speaker 2: pictures of kids in the foundation or whatever it is
32:20
Speaker 2: I'm doing, and I think he has an understanding of
32:22
Speaker 2: what it is I'm doing through dance.
32:25
Speaker 1: So you say, you through the program, mentor young dancers, etc.
32:30
Speaker 1: What advice do you give them? I mean, what are
32:32
Speaker 1: some of the things you've learned that they need to
32:35
Speaker 1: take into this world support.
32:38
Speaker 2: I think that I wouldn't have reached this level of
32:41
Speaker 2: success if I didn't have the incredible support system that
32:44
Speaker 2: I have. No amount of talent or perseverance I think
32:48
Speaker 2: will get you through just you on your own as
32:51
Speaker 2: an individual. And so something that I'm always telling them
32:54
Speaker 2: is mentorship can look like whatever you to look like.
32:58
Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be someone who's saying like, oh
33:01
Speaker 2: I'm a mentor someone you see on at the college.
33:03
Speaker 2: You want to go to. It can be an adult
33:05
Speaker 2: in your life. It can be a peer of yours,
33:06
Speaker 2: it can be your own parents, it can look like
33:10
Speaker 2: so many different things. But I think it's really important
33:12
Speaker 2: that you have that around you, no matter what it is.
33:16
Speaker 1: You choose to do, totally get it. I spoke about
33:19
Speaker 1: that at the commencement addressed like game at Syracuse find
33:22
Speaker 1: your mentors, Like it's so important. Is there any that
33:26
Speaker 1: stand out for you? I mean, who were the great
33:29
Speaker 1: ones for you?
33:30
Speaker 2: Susan fails Hill was an early supporter and mentor of mine.
33:33
Speaker 2: She as a writer and producer in the television space.
33:37
Speaker 2: She's a black woman. She was on the board of
33:39
Speaker 2: Americon Valley Theater for many years and has just been
33:42
Speaker 2: someone that has been in my corner. And I think
33:44
Speaker 2: it's been really valuable about a lot of the mentors
33:47
Speaker 2: that I have had, is that they see me as
33:52
Speaker 2: a human and not just as an artist or a
33:56
Speaker 2: dancer or what will come of that when I'm no
33:59
Speaker 2: longer dam and saying will they still be with me?
34:01
Speaker 2: Will they still support me? And so I think it's
34:03
Speaker 2: really important to find someone who understands you as a
34:05
Speaker 2: person and is not just trying to reflect what they've
34:08
Speaker 2: been through and kind of put that on you, but
34:11
Speaker 2: listening and being open and lending advice when you ask,
34:16
Speaker 2: but being there is a support all the time. Raven
34:19
Speaker 2: Wilkinson as well, who was a ballet dancer. I actually
34:22
Speaker 2: wrote a book about her and my relationship. She was
34:25
Speaker 2: one of the first black ballerinas here in America to
34:28
Speaker 2: dance in a major company in the nineteen fifties, and
34:31
Speaker 2: she ended up becoming a very very close friend of
34:34
Speaker 2: mine up until she passed away a couple of years
34:36
Speaker 2: ago now, And having someone who is just so positive
34:40
Speaker 2: in what the arts and the value of the arts
34:43
Speaker 2: can do for someone. And even though she experienced so
34:46
Speaker 2: much hardship, I mean, she was chased out of America
34:48
Speaker 2: by the ku kleps Klan in the nineteen fifties, being
34:51
Speaker 2: a black woman trying to dance ages in the South,
34:54
Speaker 2: and yet she still had this undenying love and respect
35:00
Speaker 2: for the United States and for the art form and
35:04
Speaker 2: an art form that didn't always want her. And she's
35:07
Speaker 2: just I think showed me what it is to really
35:09
Speaker 2: appreciate being able to do something like this for a living.
35:14
Speaker 1: The person running your charity too, I mean it's pretty impressive.
35:18
Speaker 1: She's more of a business partner than a mentor.
35:20
Speaker 2: But Karen, I think she's all of the things.
35:23
Speaker 1: An absolutely incredible and someone everyone listening should talk to
35:27
Speaker 1: for partnerships. Right, So that we got to make sure
35:29
Speaker 1: we get in there.
35:30
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, so much for saying that.
35:33
Speaker 1: I've loved working with her. Wow, she's really cool and
35:37
Speaker 1: really gets it and is building something. I loved what
35:40
Speaker 1: you said about stepping away from the professional ballet because
35:45
Speaker 1: you could have pushed and kept going to say, I
35:49
Speaker 1: want to make more impact and it's definitely a big
35:52
Speaker 1: driver for me. I could relate to that getting into
35:55
Speaker 1: the role I did because I saw being able to
35:58
Speaker 1: get more done kind of changing. I always say, doing
36:02
Speaker 1: the same thing over and over again and expecting a
36:05
Speaker 1: different outcome is the definition are crazy. It's like you
36:08
Speaker 1: have to really make it happen. You've done so much,
36:13
Speaker 1: there's so much more to do. So getting real with me,
36:17
Speaker 1: which is what we do? What are your goals for
36:19
Speaker 1: the next chapter? Like, what what happens now?
36:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, let me be real with you. I mean, no,
36:26
Speaker 2: you know, I think that it's continuing to create opportunities
36:31
Speaker 2: for the next generation. I want to continue to find
36:34
Speaker 2: as many ways to tell stories that will expand how
36:39
Speaker 2: we see ourselves and how we see each other. And
36:42
Speaker 2: that can mean through the books that I'm writing, through
36:45
Speaker 2: my production company, through still movement myself, and still performing.
36:50
Speaker 2: Maybe not at the level of American Ballet theater, but
36:52
Speaker 2: I still want to continue to move my body. But
36:53
Speaker 2: I want to be able to build spaces where young
36:56
Speaker 2: people feel like they belong and that they're not being
37:01
Speaker 2: questioned whether they belong in these spaces, and to continue
37:04
Speaker 2: to evolve what ballet and dance look like. Yeah, and
37:09
Speaker 2: I think that we shouldn't have to just live under
37:11
Speaker 2: one title or one role.
37:13
Speaker 1: No, and you're doing it. It's amazing. So two fun
37:17
Speaker 1: questions I always like to end with, because we're wrapping
37:19
Speaker 1: it up, what's the best vacation.
37:21
Speaker 2: You've ever taken with or without my sons?
37:24
Speaker 1: Like, it doesn't matter, it's well the best, So one
37:27
Speaker 1: with your son and one without? How about?
37:30
Speaker 2: I would say without my son was probably the Maldives.
37:33
Speaker 2: And it seems so obvious, but it was an incredible
37:36
Speaker 2: experience for so many reasons. I mean beauty, but also
37:39
Speaker 2: just like a place that felt so calming and grounding
37:42
Speaker 2: and connecting, like with my husband and then you know,
37:45
Speaker 2: I've traveled all over Greece with my son Jackson and
37:48
Speaker 2: for him to really experience seeing so many different cultures
37:51
Speaker 2: and food and it was just a really really beautiful
37:55
Speaker 2: trip to experience with. I think he was like a
37:58
Speaker 2: two and a half or three year old at the time.
38:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, well you'll go back so that he can remember it.
38:03
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a really cool place, I agree, and
38:05
Speaker 1: so much to see, so much to do. If there
38:07
Speaker 1: was an album that's the soundtrack of your life and
38:10
Speaker 1: we learned a lot more about your life, what would
38:12
Speaker 1: that be, hm.
38:14
Speaker 2: I would definitely have to say it was like an
38:17
Speaker 2: a Mariah Carey album they are a couple, but maybe
38:19
Speaker 2: her debut album. And I say that because I was
38:22
Speaker 2: seven years old when her first album came out, and
38:24
Speaker 2: there was a lot of adversity. There was so much
38:28
Speaker 2: going on in my life at that time, and there
38:30
Speaker 2: was something that shifted when I saw this biracial woman
38:35
Speaker 2: who was talented and expressive in telling stories through this
38:39
Speaker 2: incredibly powerful voice that I saw myself for the first
38:43
Speaker 2: time and when I kind of lead with that and
38:45
Speaker 2: people are like Ria Carrie, and I'm like yes, and
38:48
Speaker 2: her music and being a songwriter herself, and I felt
38:53
Speaker 2: so connected to a lot of the songs that she
38:56
Speaker 2: was singing, even though I was seven years old, never
38:59
Speaker 2: experienced heartbreak or anything, but it really hit deep and
39:02
Speaker 2: I think it shows the power and impact of the arts,
39:04
Speaker 2: and also what representation can do to spark something. I
39:07
Speaker 2: think it really sparked me wanting to move my body
39:10
Speaker 2: and dance hearing her music.
39:12
Speaker 1: Does she know that she does?
39:14
Speaker 2: And she gets really upset whenever I say it, because
39:16
Speaker 2: she's like, you can't put all of that on me,
39:19
Speaker 2: Like I was the reason you started. I'm like, but
39:21
Speaker 2: you were.
39:23
Speaker 1: I mean, that's pretty cool. Let's get her involved in
39:26
Speaker 1: all this too. That'd be great, I know.
39:29
Speaker 2: Let's bring everyone together.
39:31
Speaker 1: Let's bring it all together. That's the point. Anyway. Thanks
39:34
Speaker 1: so much for spending time. I think I'm gonna go
39:36
Speaker 1: move today. I definitely yeah, all right, I love it.
39:43
Speaker 2: Thanks Misty, Thank you for having me. This has been incredible.
39:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, totally fun, as I thought it would be, but better. Hey, everyone,
39:51
Speaker 1: thanks for watching. I really appreciate that you take the
39:54
Speaker 1: time to listen to this and tune in, so please subscribe,
39:59
Speaker 1: follow You've got a lot of amazing. Guess you're gonna
40:01
Speaker 1: learn a lot and you're gonna feel a lot better
40:04
Speaker 1: because you did it.