I'm a classical ballet dancer, and at the end of the day I want to be with American Ballet Theater, performing classical ballets.

My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I'm in my gym clothes and my socks trying to do this thing called ballet. I didn't know anything about it.

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.

I feel like with 'On the Town,' it was the perfect production and the perfect opportunity.

That it's possible to do positive things and I think that's how we're going to set an example to be respected as women in the world.

What makes people and companies and artistic directors and choreographers interested in working with dancers is the ability to kind of let go of everything you think you know and be a blank canvas.

Being the only African American at this level in American Ballet Theater, I feel like people are looking at me, and it's my responsibility for me to do whatever I can to provide these opportunities in communities to be able to educate them.

I knew that I just didn't have it in me to give up, even if I sometimes felt like a fool for continuing to believe.

All you can do is be your best self. I'm representing more than just me. I think everyone should be like that.

A lot of people think, Oh I'm going to eat whatever I want and then go to the gym. And I've definitely been one of those people and it just doesn't give me the results that I need to have the physique of a ballerina.

I don't think every African-American or Latino have the same body type, but, yes, that's been one of the excuses ... saying that African-Americans are too muscular or just aren't lean enough. Usually they say, Oh, they have flat feet so they just don't have the flexibility that it takes to create the line in a point shoe.

My body is very different from most of the dancers I dance with. My hair is different than most I dance with. But I didn't let that stop me. Black girls rock and can be ballerinas.

You have to be the one promoting yourself. If you don't think that you're worthy, you're never going to make it.

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.

That something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning of my career is I didn't want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the... ballet. I wanted to be myself. I didn't want to have to wear makeup that made my nose look thinner.

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

I think I get almost every piece of clothing that I buy altered and taken in just to fit me exactly the way it should.

I had always been proud of my body -- its strength and grace enabled me to pursue my passions.

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.

It's weird for minorities even just to buy tickets to the ballet. We feel like it's not a part of our lives and we're not a part of that world.