I try my best to really think about things before I react and respond.

The higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance.

Something happens when you feel that energy and excitement from the audience. And you do, I don't know, four pirouettes. You jump higher than you ever have. And it's just this really magical thing that happens in those moments.

I do think that it's a responsibility when there are so few of us as African Americans to kind of get to that place of success in a positive light. We should take a stance and stand for something and use that platform for positivity.

I was 17 when I moved to NYC . I'm now 32. But I do know I can't see myself living anywhere else. I love the food, the fashion, art, the intelligence of this city and the people that live in it.

The best piece of advice that I remember probably on a daily basis is to accept everything about me that is different. That is what makes me special.

Going on stage and transcending the audience and becoming this otherworldly thing makes you a dancer. It's not so black and white.