A Ballerina's Tale Page #3

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"She's carrying herself

differently.

She is never late."

A focus happened.

When she realized

that she could represent

something even bigger,

not just a talented dancer

who happened to be

African-American

but a talented dancer who...

you can be like this too.

Like, it's okay

for you to do ballet.

It can be cool.

Your body type

isn't going to hold you back.

You can still become

this beautiful dancer.

I think when she realized

that she had

that opportunity to do that,

it became less

about just herself

and more about what she can do

to change the world.

There's a private moment

that's my favorite moment,

which is the day

she called me to say

that she had been promoted,

and we were both

just crying on the phone,

because there it was.

When she first called me

and told me,

"Oh, my God,

I'm gonna be the Firebird,"

now, again,

I'm not the ballet expert,

so I don't know

what "The Firebird" is.

So Raven Wilkinson,

who I'm sure she's told you,

the legendary ballerina...

I called Raven,

because Raven's

my history monitor,

and I said, "Do you know

if a black woman

has ever performed 'Firebird'...

the Firebird?"

And she said, "Well, yeah,

Dance Theatre of Harlem."

I said, "No, no,

at one of the majors,

like City Ballet,

American Ballet Theatre?"

And she said, "No."

I said, "Well, guess what.

"You got to buy a ticket

when they go on sale,

because Misty is gonna

be the Firebird,"

and she said, "Which one?"

She said, "Which one?"

And I said,

"No, the Firebird."

She said, the Firebird?"

"Yes, the... like,

the main... like, yes."

"The Firebird" is one

of the modern masterpieces,

both from the music standpoint

and the choreographic

standpoint,

and it was being reset

by Alexei Ratmansky,

who's widely hailed

as the sort of Balanchine,

the great choreographer,

the great ballet innovator,

the man who is going to save

ballet from obsolescence.

And he adores Misty.

I spent, like, I think

it was two weeks in this studio

just having "Firebird"

created on me,

which is really cool.

Alexei came in with an idea,

but he allowed us to be

a part of the creative process,

so if he saw that, you know,

I was attempting to do something

that looked more natural

to fall out of it a certain way,

then he would keep it.

And he allowed

the three of us Firebirds

to have our own versions

so that it suited our bodies

and abilities best.

In a company of 80 dancers

where you've got

a lot of stars...

and he could have

picked anyone...

for him to pick someone

who's not a prima ballerina

but a soloist

and then to pick

someone black...

a ballet of this magnitude,

if we look

in the annals of ballet

going back to Louis xlv,

it's never happened before.

It is... it's monumental.

The entire dance world was agog,

and certainly

every person of color

involved in the dance world

was standing up and cheering,

because we'd been

waiting for this moment.

Susan Fales-Hill

put together

this really great

group of women.

She had called me and said,

"Tracey, I want you

to experience

a really magical evening."

I invited Debra Lee,

the head of BET.

I invited Marva Smalls,

who's at MTV, Vacom.

Star Jones was there.

There was just a myriad

of incredibly accomplished

black women in the room...

in the box, actually,

and we were all there

sharing in the triumph

of Misty dancing.

The makeup of the crowd

was completely different

than you would see on any other

given day at the Met,

and the power of one person

to change the...

the crowd who comes

to see dance,

I think that was really special.

For a black woman to be the face

of American Ballet Theatre's

spring season

at the Metropolitan Opera House,

we knew that

something was happening.

My manager, Gilda,

was waiting for me outside,

and I walked out,

and I looked up,

and I saw that the whole

front of the Met

was covered in this woman

with her breasts out

and arched back,

and I was like, "Oh, my gosh.

That's a curvy black woman

on the front of the Met,

and it's me."

And I just... we both cried,

because it meant so much

for the African-American

community

to feel welcome in that space.

When she entered the stage,

and it just seemed

like collectively,

we all kind of leaned forward,

and it was just the sense

of pride and joy

to just see

this talented, strong,

graceful, amazing woman

grace the stage.

She came out to give

her bows at the end.

It was quite amazing.

There were people in the crowd

who were actually crying.

There was an emotional

connection to her

and to the fact that this was

an historic performance.

To sit in that theater

that night,

surrounded by African-American

women of accomplishment,

watching a ballerina

take center stage

in one of the most

important works

just felt like her life

had come full circle.

Afterwards, they had a sort of

a meet and greet

set up on the stage.

They had tables set up.

I said to Misty, "Wow,

you know, I was knocked out.

"This is amazing.

Congratulations."

You know, she had

a beautiful outfit on,

she had some high heels on,

and she looked perfectly fine,

and she said to me,

"I'm in a lot of pain, Nelson."

And I was like,

"Whoa, you would never

have known that

by watching her,"

but it turned out

that she'd been dancing

with severe fractures

in her shin.

That night,

I came into the theater,

and I was in so much pain,

I didn't know how

I was gonna get onstage.

I knew it was there,

but I kind of pushed it

to the side,

because I knew how vital

that season was for me.

The opportunity to do

principal roles as a soloist

I didn't think was something

that would come again.

Knowing how much

of the black community

was coming to the Met,

maybe for the first time,

to support me, I understood

that I had to make it work.

I knew that that night

stood for something

so much bigger than me

and beyond

what I can even imagine,

so I knew

that no matter what I did

on the stage that night,

it was going to be

a historical evening.

I think a dancer's

pain tolerance

is on another level that I...

I have no idea

if it can be compared

to anyone or anything.

When you're onstage

and you're standing on one leg

for, you know,

five, ten minutes at a time

and you're supposed

to look like a beautiful swan

and you have sweat

dripping in your eye

and your butt's cramping

and your feet are cramping

and then all of a sudden,

you have to get up

and start jumping and moving,

that pain is something

that every dancer deals with,

and no one really

talks about it.

Pointe shoes are uncomfortable.

They hurt.

Your feet, when you first

learn how to dance en point,

are going to bleed,

sometimes through your shoes.

That's unusual.

Why do we do that?

As soon as dance

becomes more athletic,

which it has definitely become

in the 21st century,

the body is just beaten up

way too much.

Even a great dancer

like Mikhail Baryshnikov,

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