I learned how to communicate and articulate myself from ballet. It's just insane to me, when they don't think of that as a part of our education.

It's difficult to exist as a woman, especially I think as a powerful woman. You want to stand strong and you want to be considered and equal.

Physical fears change and shift depending on the role and depending on the mindset I'm in.

Ballet found me. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced, my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me.

I try to consider people's perspectives and not just my own.

For me, I was in school and I pushed myself to be a good student, just because that's the type of person I was, but I never had a connection to any of it. I don't think my brain functioned in a way that was at its height, when I was in school. I needed something like art to really value the way my mind works. I wasn't reaching my full potential by sitting in a classroom and reading from a book. My mind didn't work that way.

How difficult it is to exist, that we are athlete and artist. We have injuries. People don't see the hard side of being a ballerina. They just see this beautiful and effortless thing, and they assume it's easy and cute. I hate when people say it's cute!