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" I had some really incredible people who mentored me and gave me things I never got from my parents. "

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" I've always approached my career and my life, you know, one day at a time, as if this was the last day that I'm going, because you never know as an athlete and as a dancer. You never know what can happen today, tomorrow. "

" Before dance came into my life, I don't really remember having any major goals or dreams of wanting to be anything. "

" Being in ballet class, being on the stage, being surrounded by my peers at American Ballet Theater every day, keeps me so humble and grounded. Being in ballet class, I feel, is like this meditation for me every morning. "

" To be empathetic to everyone around you, I think, is such a powerful thing to hold. "

" If I'm put in a situation where I am not really sure what's going to happen, it can be overwhelming. I get a bit anxious. "

" Ballet was so structured. I'd been craving something that could guide me. "

" When I was dancing, I felt in control and happy. I'm a Virgo, so I really like to be in control. "

" I think body-image issues are not just a dancer thing. I think we're much more in tune and aware because the body is our instrument and art, and we stare at ourselves in a mirror all day, but I feel like it's something that every woman experiences and every girl experiences. "

" I would have young dancers come to me and ask me questions and want to know what my experiences were like: 'What's it like being a black dancer?' So I just felt like it was necessary for me to share my experiences with them. "

" When people meet me in person, they're usually surprised at how petite I am because there's this idea that because I'm black, I just look a certain way. "

" It's hard to be the one that stands out when, you know, in a ballet company, you're trying to create unison and uniform when you're in a corps de ballet. "

" I didn't care how much work it would take, and I didn't see the time invested as a waste or like I was missing out on anything. Ballet became my ultimate passion. "

" There are no taking days off. There are no distractions. If I had that, I physically wouldn't be capable of going onstage and performing live theater. It's extremely demanding. I have to be in ballet class every day. "

" Being one of the few African American women to make it to this level in a classical ballet company, the level of American Ballet Theatre, takes a lot of perseverance. "

" I think I'm pretty laid back. I like cooking, being at home, and going to concerts. And I love to shop! "

" I was the first person in my family who was ever interested in dance, or fine art of any kind for that matter - I came from a very humble beginning in San Pedro, California. "

" I feel like going to class every morning is so humbling. You're always working to improve, and you're always being critiqued on your next performance. It's not about what you've done. There's always room to grow. "

" I have the opportunity, which most people don't experience nearly as much, of being in front of a mirror up to 10 hours a day. Staring at your body, you really get to know every little detail of how to make yourself look your best. "

" I love heels. I'm 5-foot-2, and I like feeling tall. "

" Depending on the level you're at in your company, the higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance. "

" I think American Ballet Theatre is setting that standard now for classical ballet, that you can dream big, and it doesn't matter what you look like, where you come from, what your background is. "

" 'The Company' was interesting. I didn't love it, although it might be compelling to someone who isn't a dancer. There wasn't a lot of dialogue, and you were just kind of observing the creative process of choreography and in class. "

" I don't want to be anything else other than a ballerina. I love what I do outside of my work, but at the end of the day, I have to sacrifice. "

" I wake up every morning, and I go to ballet class no matter what's going on the night before. That's my priority, and that's what makes me feel sane and not removed from the realities of my world. "

" It's going to take a while before we see a real shift in the students and the dancers that are going into professional companies because it takes so many years of training, but I do think that there's a new crop of dancers, of minority dancers that are entering into the ballet world. "

" As a child, I had been told that I was exactly what a ballerina should be. "

" I want to bring awareness to the lack of diversity in ballet, and feel like that's a large part of my purpose. "

" 40 years old is about the time a principal dancer would start to think about retirement, but some go on to dance a little bit longer than that. "

" I never thought of myself as special or particularly good at anything. But once I started ballet, suddenly I had a new identity: prodigy. "

" Every time I dance, I'm trying to prove myself to myself. "