Misty Copeland

And that was just a part of our household.

Like there was always music and she was always moving.

She would choreograph things for me and my

siblings like for different talent shows when we were younger but music was like the one constant in our household and in my life that I'm so grateful to her for because I feel like it's it's what brought me to dance it's what allowed me to you know start to develop my my voice and opinion and but yeah she she's a lover of movement and music.

I would say I was probably 19 years old.

I would say between like 19 and 21 were those years of trying to

understand and find myself and connect with other people that were like me.

And it definitely came out in what I was eating.

I think it ended up hurting me because I wasn't taking care of myself.

But it was like I didn't know how else to express myself and not feel like I was just like another peg, you know, in the system of ABT or I don't know, just trying to find my voice.

And so I was really, you know, pushing back against, you know, being the only person.

And I remember eating a lot of Krispy Kreme donuts.

I remember going out dancing, going out to the club, you know, just like really in search of myself.

But I don't regret that time at all because I definitely found myself.

I found my husband.

I found so many incredible friends and artists and people that I feel like a lot of dancers, you get kind of stuck in this ballet bubble.

And, you know, like you can't do this, you can't do that.

And then you never really kind of grow into a person and an individual and you're kind of just like stunted by this ballet world.

bubble and I was like I'm in New York City I'm in one of the most like incredible diverse cities with artists and and yet I'm spending my days from you know nine to seven in a studio and I'm the only black person like this is crazy like I need to be out in the world and experiencing life and and so I was yeah I was going out and meeting people and and exploring and seeing art but

I wasn't getting enough sleep, and I was eating poorly and gaining weight and all the things.