Misty Copeland

Dance kind of was always just a part of my natural state as a child. It's something that, whenever music was playing, I was dancing.

I think that the ideal physique and look of a ballerina is always changing with different eras. And it's continuing to change.

It's hard to change someone's ideas when they might not even really consciously know that they're being racist, or have racist ideas, just because ballet has been this way for hundreds of years.

The ballet world I don't think is an art form that is quick to change or to adjust or evolve.

If the rhythm or beat of the music changes with a live orchestra, you have to think on your feet. If you feel like you are not on your leg, you have to make a decision to make it look as though nothing is going wrong.

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.

Finding great training, I think, is number one. I did a lot of research and found really great teachers, and it just takes - I took a year off from school and did independent studies so that I could devote all of my time to it. But I think that training is the key, definitely, and it's not a sport.

I don't eat a ton of pasta or bread. But I eat dessert almost every night, and I drink. You need a bit of balance, and I've found mine.

My favorite role of all? Whatever I'm working on in the moment.

Every time I step onto the stage, it's not only proving to the audience that I'm capable but to myself.

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