Meet The First Black Ballerina To Dance The Lead In New York City Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’

Every December, the New York City Ballet puts on their rendition of The Nutcracker, you know the story about a nutcracker that leads the toy soldiers into a battle with mice. And with the help of Marie, he helps defeat the Mouse King, which ends up breaking an ancient spell that turns the nutcracker into a prince.

While this year the story is exactly the same, the ballet company is still making history. See, for the first time in their company’s history, the lead will be played by a Black ballerina.

Meet Charlotte Nebres, the 11-year-old dancer who is gracefully stepping into Misty Copeland’s footsteps and hopefully her legacy. Not surprisingly, the pre-teen told the New York Times that Copeland inspired her to become a ballerina. 

“I saw her perform and she was just so inspiring and so beautiful,” Charlotte gushed to the Times.

“When I saw someone who looked like me onstage, I thought, that’s amazing. She was representing me and all the people like me.”

See, that right there is the power of representation. In order to be, there are times when you need to see it.

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11-Year-Old Ballerina Charlotte Nebres Makes History as First Black Lead in NYC Ballet's The Nutcracker @nycballet ・・・ IN THE NEWS // The four children who alternate the roles of Marie and the Nutcracker Prince were recently profiled in The New York Times by Gia Korlas. She sat down with them to discuss the rehearsal process, their lives off-stage, and their roles in the ballet.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ When asked about why ballet is important to her now, in this moment, 11 year-old Charlotte Nebres, pictured here in rehearsal for her role as Marie, said:⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ "To 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. It makes me happy, and I’m going to do what makes me happy. You don’t need to think about anything else."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Photo: Heather Sten @heathersten for The New York Times @nytimes⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ See these very young dancers, who are the heart of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®, now on stage through JAN 5. Tap the link in bio for tickets and more information.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #nutcracker #nycbnutcracker #thenutcracker #nutcrackerballet #holidayseason #georgebalanchinesthenutcracker #ballet #dance #balletdancer #dancelife #balletlife #instaballet #dancers #choreography #balanchine #nycb #nycballet #newyorkcityballet #newyorkcity #linkinbio

A post shared by Misty Copeland (@mistyonpointe) on Dec 1, 2019 at 9:25pm PST

 

 

Nebres, who is Trinidadian and Filipino, will be alternating the role with another dancer, which is standard each year. Even her counterpart is a girl of color: Sophia Thomopoulos (Marie) is is half-Korean, half-Greek, while Kai Misra-Stone (Sophia’s Prince) is half-South Asian.

 

 

 

Charlotte’s mother Danielle told the Times that Charlotte had “a poker face,” when she walked out of the 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.”

When Danielle told her daughter that she was the first Black girl to play Marie, her response was, “Wow. That seems a little late.”

You better tell it!

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IN THE NEWS // The four @sab_nyc children who alternate the roles of Marie and the Nutcracker Prince were recently profiled in The New York Times by Gia Kourlas. She sat down with them to discuss the rehearsal process, their lives off-stage, and their roles in the ballet.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ When asked who the Nutcracker Prince is to him, 11-year-old Kai Misra-Stone (pictured at top right) said, "The Prince is this character that develops. In the beginning, he is Drosselmeier’s nephew and then it’s almost as if he transforms into the Nutcracker and then goes back to being the Prince. He comes out of his shell and just opens up and is like: Here I am."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Thirteen-year-old Tanner Quirk (pictured in the foreground), is the oldest of the four, and has also previously played Marie's bratty brother Fritz in the production. To him, the Nutcracker Prince "is very brave and compassionate especially toward his Marie, which is what I aspire to be like in real life, too."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Photo: Heather Sten @heathersten for The New York Times @nytimes⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ See these very young dancers who are the heart of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®, now on stage through JAN 5. Tap the link in bio for tickets and more information.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #nutcracker #nycbnutcracker #thenutcracker #nutcrackerballet #holidayseason #georgebalanchinesthenutcracker #ballet #dance #boysdancetoo #balletdancer #dancelife #balletlife #instaballet #dancers #choreography #balanchine #nycb #nycballet #newyorkcityballet #newyorkcity #linkinbio #schoolofamericanballet

A post shared by New York City Ballet (@nycballet) on Dec 1, 2019 at 9:19am PST

 

While the pressure to be the first is always there, Charlotte brings herself back to her love of dance and why she’s out there on the stage in the first place.

“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 New York Times.

“It makes me happy, and I’m going to do what makes me happy.”

Love it! Congrats Charlotte!!!

BEAUTIES: If you’re in NYC, the New York City Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker will run through January 5. Purchase tickets here.  

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