11-year-old Charlotte Nebres makes history as the first black lead in the New York City Ballet’s “Nutcracker” and fellow barrier breaking ballerina Misty Copeland shows her some love. Get into HERstory inside…
Diversity is starting to creep into the ballet world more and more.
Four years ago, Misty Copeland broke barriers when she became the first black woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.
Now, another young, black and fabulous female is following in her footsteps at the New York City Ballet Company.
11-year-old Charlotte Nebres has become the first black lead at the New York City Ballet’s annual holiday production of George Balanchine’s "The Nutcracker." She’ll star as Marie, the young heroine who dreams of a nutcracker coming to life.
When her mother, Danielle Nebres, told her about the history making feat, she responded, “Wow. That seems a little late.”
And she’s totally right.
“It is [a big deal],” Charlotte told The New York Times of securing the role. “But to me, it’s just how I grew up, so it’s not really different to me.”
Charlotte – a student at the School of American Ballet – was six-years-old when Misty became the first female African American principal at American Ballet Theater. She said seeing Misty perform for the first time was inspiring to her.
“I saw her perform and she was just so inspiring and so beautiful,” she said. “When I saw someone who looked like me onstage, I thought, that’s amazing. She was representing me and all the people like me.”
"It just feels like when I dance, I feel free and I feel empowered. I feel like I can do anything when I dance," she told the Times. "It makes me happy, and I'm going to do what makes me happy. You don’t need to think about anything else."
Charlotte’s mother’s family is from Trinidad, while her father’s is from the Philippines. Her mother was a dancer herself growing up. She said she still remembers how shocked she was when Charlotte told her she nabbed the part of Marie after her audition.
“With that poker face of hers, she said, ‘Well, I’m Marie,’ And I just thought, oh my goodness — they really did it. I couldn’t believe it.” Her mother said.
This year’s production will include a diverse cast of other young leads as well, including Tanner Quirk (her Prince), who is half-Chinese; Sophia Thomopoulos (Marie), who is half-Korean, half-Greek; and Kai Misra-Stone (Sophia’s Prince), who is half-South Asian. (FYI: The children are always double cast.)
”It’s pretty amazing to be not only representing S.A.B., but also representing all of our cultures. There might be a little boy or girl in the audience seeing that and saying, hey, I can do that, too.”
Congrats, young queen!
Photo: Photo Agency/Shuttershock.com
source: theybf
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