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0:28

honey? oh hey, you know it

0:30

I was thinking about So you

0:32

and I spent a number of

0:34

your sleeping under the same roof,

0:37

mostly in the same room to

0:39

be totally free. First in college

0:41

and then we live together in

0:43

Manhattan in everyone needs to me

0:45

you are the world's you to

0:48

sleeper. First of all you sleep

0:50

on your back a lot. And.

0:52

Not on my my lower back

0:54

couldn't tolerate. But

0:57

I was remembering how we

0:59

used to describe your sleeping

1:01

positions in ballet position: Terminal

1:03

hinchey. So with the first

1:05

position, second position, third position

1:07

play. Yeah Emily thought to

1:09

myself, wow, That is the

1:11

closest that you and I

1:14

have come to ballet. Closest

1:16

I've ever com and closes

1:18

Iowa Adverb A Ever V

1:20

I mean honestly, when forced.

1:22

Him: you went to a wedding where you

1:24

didn't call me the next day. same you

1:26

through your back our i mean it happens

1:28

every time I put on a high year,

1:30

Every time. Oh it's so troubling but it's

1:33

also very cool of you know. why do

1:35

I bring this up? Well

1:37

because today we're discussing the

1:39

ballet movies center Stage and

1:41

the idea of a stage

1:44

mom just slip. overly involved,

1:46

overly invested, controlling stage mom.

1:48

I. Am fascinated by stage mom's I actually

1:51

think the my mom would have made a

1:53

stage mom for the ages shoot a lender.

1:55

I mean the only thing stopping her was

1:57

the fact that I have a debilitating self

1:59

com. and enough shame to prevent me

2:01

from really putting myself out there in ways that

2:04

could potentially crush me. Oh, is that it? That

2:07

and that I have no marketable skills? No,

2:09

that's not true. But

2:12

I think I could be a stage

2:14

mom. I'm very susceptible to it. I

2:16

believe Violet and Cooper to be celebrities

2:18

in their own right. They

2:21

are stars. Yeah, well, no.

2:24

Violet's first dance recital really humbled me.

2:27

It knocked me down a peg. The

2:29

curtain opened, a group of 12

2:31

little ballerinas were there, the music

2:33

started, and I just sat

2:35

there completely dumbfounded by the fact that

2:37

she was nowhere to be found. They

2:41

had to stop the music. Then

2:43

she just wandered out on stage, she had

2:45

been distracted by a shiny object or something

2:47

back there, forgotten what she was supposed to

2:49

be doing. You know? So

2:52

I don't think the performing life is

2:54

for her. Okay, well maybe it's not

2:56

ballet. We don't know, we haven't

2:58

tried tap and jazz yet. Well, we can

3:00

give it a try. But I'll

3:02

tell you what, ballerina life was

3:05

so enticing in the movie Center

3:07

Stage. Oh, I loved it.

3:10

It came out in the year 2000 and

3:12

focuses on a group of ballet

3:14

dancers at the American Ballet Academy.

3:17

If you work harder every day than you've ever

3:19

worked in your life, this school will turn you

3:21

into the best dancer you can possibly be. That

3:25

may or may not be the kind of dancer I have room

3:27

for in the company. There's the lead

3:29

of the movie Jodi, who does

3:31

not have the traditional dancer body

3:34

or vibe. Where's the turnout Jodi? After

3:37

everything we've talked about, I'm not seeing

3:39

it. She has this love

3:41

triangle, she's finding her way at

3:43

school and having romantic

3:45

love scenes set to Mandy Moore

3:48

songs. Then there's

3:50

Eva, played by Zoe Zaldana in

3:52

her first movie role ever. She's

3:55

talented but the bad girl of ballet.

4:00

like that. Anyone can see she's working

4:02

her ass off. That's enough Miss Rodriguez.

4:04

And finally Maureen who's the star student

4:06

and she has a stage mother. Maureen's

4:09

mom works at the school and is

4:12

constantly plotting and pushing her daughter and

4:15

we find out why. Maureen's mom had

4:17

wished she was a dancer and she

4:19

just didn't have what it took. Maureen

4:22

quits dancing at the end

4:24

and tells her mom. What you

4:26

mom? You didn't have the feet. I

4:29

don't have the feet. Does

4:31

that quote kill you? I mean

4:33

it's just so funny too. It's

4:36

such a good line. It's just

4:38

sad because it's very clear that

4:40

Maureen's been forced into this. I

4:42

know. And I think that's just

4:44

like the common reason mothers become

4:46

overbearing stage mothers. That they

4:49

just desperately wished for something for

4:51

themselves and so they become hell-bent

4:53

on pushing their children into it.

4:56

And if there's one thing you and I

4:58

have figured out for sure is that we

5:00

can't push our children into just

5:02

about anything. Nothing. Nothing.

5:05

I'm Sabrina Kohlberg and I'm Andy

5:07

Mitchell from ABC Audio and Good

5:09

Morning America. This is Pop Culture Moms.

5:12

Our guests today know a thing or

5:14

two about the world of dance. Misty

5:16

Copeland and Leila Faez met

5:18

as teenage ballerinas at the American

5:21

Ballet Theatre and bonded over their

5:23

experience dancing and their love of

5:25

pop culture, especially Mariah Carey. Misty

5:28

made history when she became the

5:31

first ever African-American female principal dancer

5:33

with the American Ballet Theatre. Leila

5:36

is currently my co-worker at Good Morning

5:38

America. We were so

5:40

thrilled to talk to them both about

5:42

ballet and motherhood, their experiences with stage

5:44

moms, and the portrayal of

5:47

ballet culture in movies like Black

5:49

Swan, the 2010 psychological thriller that

5:51

earned Natalie Portman an Oscar. We'll

5:53

talk to Misty and Leila After a quick break.

6:05

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group text you won't want to exit.

9:26

Our guests, Misty Copeland and Leila

9:28

Faez, met as teenage ballerinas with

9:30

the American Ballet Theater and

9:33

are still working together today. The two

9:35

moms are trying to make dance more

9:37

inclusive with their own production company, Life

9:40

in Motion Films. Their

9:42

first short film, Flower, tells

9:44

a powerful story about mothers,

9:46

daughters, homelessness, and a vibrant

9:48

community through dance. Misty

9:51

and Leila, hi! Thank you for coming

9:53

on our show today. Thank you for

9:55

having us. Yeah, thank you.

9:58

I have so much to talk to you about. So,

10:00

Reina, we want to talk about

10:02

ballet and motherhood and flower,

10:05

your new short film. I

10:08

guess a good place to start would be,

10:10

I know that you two met as ballet

10:12

dancers at ABT. What do

10:14

you think drew you to one another? So I

10:16

moved to New York. I came for the

10:19

first time when I was 16 for American

10:21

Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive Program. And

10:23

I came back at 17

10:26

and I officially moved to

10:28

the city and really didn't

10:30

know anyone, didn't really have

10:32

a sense of grounding in any

10:34

way. It was just kind of

10:36

thrust out into the real adult

10:38

world. And there

10:41

was just something that wasn't

10:43

the typical ballerina, I

10:45

think that drew me to Layla

10:47

that felt real and felt authentic and

10:50

honest. Not that ballet dancers aren't the

10:52

best things, but

10:55

there was something that just felt very

10:57

grounded. But I think what really, really

10:59

drew us to each other was our

11:01

love for music, pop and hip hop

11:03

and R&B. Yeah, I think it was

11:05

like the general knowledge of pop culture.

11:07

Missy really understood pop culture in the

11:09

same way that I did and a

11:11

lot of the other dancers didn't. Because

11:13

you focus, you put so much focus

11:15

on ballet when you're doing it growing

11:18

up. But I think Missy had started late, she started at

11:20

13. I started a little

11:22

late also, which was at 11. And

11:25

so we had already sort of developed

11:28

a sense of self that wasn't fully

11:30

identified by being ballet dancers. And

11:32

so I think there was like a connection there

11:34

as well. But we were playing Mariah Carey and

11:36

NSYNC when we were going on tour

11:39

and singing the songs together. Hell yeah.

11:41

That's the best. What

11:43

do you think drew you both to

11:46

ballet? I mean, for me, it

11:48

was that I was taking gymnastics and a

11:50

lot of kids were getting hurt. And my mom was

11:52

like, you can't take gymnastics anymore.

11:55

I'm too nervous, which is something that I

11:57

now understand as a mother, that my daughter

12:00

gymnastics and I couldn't even watch her do it. Gymnastics

12:03

doesn't get terrifying. I'm gonna back down

12:05

there. Just from watching. And the

12:07

spectators. Watching your kids flipping and all of

12:09

that when they're still not fully learned how

12:11

to walk. It's stressful. But

12:14

my mom was like, you can't do it anymore, but

12:16

you can take ballet. And I was like, oh, ballet,

12:18

what do you mean? And I took ballet,

12:20

my first class I was like, a

12:22

foot taller than all the other kids because I

12:24

was so much older than the kids I was

12:26

in the class level at. That moment was sort

12:29

of embarrassing, but also like I loved it. I

12:31

just was drawn to the fact that it was an

12:33

escape. But Misty has a very

12:35

different story of how she discovered

12:37

ballet. No, I think for similar

12:39

reasons that it eventually would become

12:41

an escape and a

12:43

way of finding my voice.

12:46

Coming from a background

12:48

where I was a middle child, the fourth

12:51

of six children in a single parent home

12:53

with my mom raising us. And

12:56

didn't really have any sense of

12:58

self or identity or voice. There

13:01

was also just a lot of instability

13:03

and moving around and not often having

13:06

like a stable home environment and often

13:08

having a roof over our heads. And

13:10

so music initially became this

13:12

thing that was like something

13:14

that was mine. And that's when

13:17

I became obsessed with Mariah Carey through

13:19

her songs, her writing, and also

13:22

being a biracial woman, feeling this

13:24

representation that I'd never really seen

13:26

before. And then dance kind

13:28

of evolved. Like from hearing music, I

13:31

wanted to start creating choreography and dance

13:33

needs to go with that. And eventually

13:35

because I was a member of the

13:37

Boys and Girls Club, I

13:39

was pushed into taking a free ballet class

13:41

that was being offered there. And then it

13:43

just became a necessity.

13:46

It was the first time I

13:48

had balance and structure and

13:51

consistency in my life. And

13:53

there's something so amazing just about the

13:55

ballet technique. Whenever I'm speaking to kids

13:57

today that take dance and that are

13:59

from. community similarly to you know where I

14:01

come from. I feel like we all have this

14:04

mutual kind of connection to it in

14:06

that you know exactly what you're going

14:08

to get every day and there's something

14:11

that makes you feel so safe about

14:13

that. You're coming to class, you're going

14:15

to do a warm-up, you're going to

14:17

do center practice, you know what I

14:19

mean? There's something about the way that

14:22

it's structured that's almost like this form

14:24

of meditation but it's reliable and it's

14:26

also something you know a way of

14:28

expressing yourself. I think that's so beautiful

14:30

because it's like I can relate to I

14:33

guess the instability of my

14:35

childhood what leading me to

14:38

kind of crave control, crave

14:40

structure and like I

14:43

really think that's something I've

14:45

worked on as a mom with my kids.

14:48

So I think that's very relatable. I wonder Leila

14:51

do you relate to that upbringing

14:53

or like I'd love to hear

14:55

both of you just talk about

14:57

how much your moms in particular

15:00

kind of fostered your early

15:03

dance life your start to get into

15:05

ballet and how it became like such

15:07

a huge part of your your entire

15:10

day and life. Yeah I mean

15:12

I'm first-generation American my mother is

15:14

Cuban and Lebanese and Puerto Rican

15:16

and my father is Persian. My

15:19

mother always had music playing at

15:21

home she was always

15:24

dancing all of her sisters were always dancing

15:26

my grandmother was always dancing and playing music

15:28

so that was just part of like you

15:31

know this very creative I guess life

15:33

at home where there was celebration a

15:35

lot of the time. My parents did

15:37

not want me to do ballet as

15:39

a career I think my

15:41

mom wanted to expose me to different

15:43

things and give me an opportunity. My

15:46

mom actually met my dad in college

15:48

coming from a dance class she was

15:50

just always interested in dance but she

15:52

wasn't really like trained and so I

15:55

guess she always probably was like oh I want my

15:57

daughter to have you know more time.

16:00

to spend dancing. But

16:02

my mother was not trying to push me,

16:04

like a lot of the other mothers, a

16:06

lot of the stage moms. She

16:08

was sort of like, she didn't wanna be part

16:10

of the studio drama. She just dropped me

16:12

off at the dance studio and come back a few hours later

16:14

and pick me up. And some

16:17

of the other mothers who would be considered

16:19

stage moms, they actually used to talk

16:21

about my mom not being there.

16:23

Like, oh, she doesn't care. Like she just,

16:26

you know, and I was embarrassed by it

16:28

actually. And I felt like, oh, you know,

16:30

they're judging me based off of my mom

16:32

because she's just dropping me off. But in

16:34

reality, she just didn't wanna be a part

16:36

of like any gossiping about other kids. And,

16:38

you know, she wasn't trying to like get

16:40

me parts by. Yeah.

16:44

I mean, yeah. Like it's hard that she

16:46

felt like she was getting, you know, criticized

16:48

for, but that, yeah, in

16:50

comparison to a lot of other stories we've heard, let's

16:53

say, seems like a

16:55

very measured response by your mom. I

16:57

feel like I have a similar experience

16:59

where, you know, my mother, there was

17:02

always music playing around our house. My

17:05

mom was always dancing. She

17:07

grew up taking ballet and tap

17:09

and jazz and modern and

17:12

ended up working professionally as

17:14

a Kansas City Chiefs football

17:16

cheerleader, but did not

17:18

push any of

17:20

my siblings or myself into dance.

17:22

And same as Layla,

17:24

you know, when I got into

17:27

dance and to ballet, she was kind

17:29

of like hands off and also

17:31

didn't know a lot about, you

17:33

know, what it would be to, you

17:35

know, continue on this track and become

17:37

a professional. What things

17:40

about your mothers did

17:43

you learn that inform your

17:45

motherhood? Maybe that you love,

17:47

maybe that you wanna leave behind, any of

17:49

that. I think for

17:51

me, my mother was very young when she had me. She

17:54

was 20. And so I always

17:56

felt like there was more of

17:59

like a friendship than like, a mother-child relationship

18:01

and that was frustrating at times

18:03

but also now that I

18:05

am an older mom to my daughter,

18:07

I try to remember to be playful

18:09

with my daughter as opposed to being

18:12

authoritative. I think what I've learned

18:14

that I didn't

18:16

want to do from growing

18:18

up and seeing my mom was

18:20

that I wanted to be really

18:23

independent and on my own and

18:26

in a very healthy, loving

18:28

partnership with whoever it was

18:30

I chose to be with. Before I

18:32

got married, before I had children, that

18:34

it was really conscious that I was

18:36

deciding to be with someone not

18:39

because they needed to take care of me, which

18:42

is very complicated. My mom was adopted

18:44

and had a very difficult upbringing and

18:46

started having kids really young like Leila's

18:48

mom. I think she was 20 when

18:50

she had her first, but it

18:53

was important for me. I'm married to my husband. We've

18:55

been together for 20 years, we

18:58

didn't get married until

19:00

12 years in or something like

19:02

that. It was really important that

19:04

I had someone who respected me

19:07

and understood how much I valued

19:09

my career and the importance of

19:11

it before we created a family.

19:14

I think something that's important for

19:16

me is like what

19:18

Leila was saying, having that

19:20

loving, playful relationship where it's

19:22

like you can draw the line and you can

19:24

be the adult, but you also want to kind

19:27

of meet your children where they are. My mom,

19:30

we had so many laughs and fun

19:32

together. It was like she was the

19:34

seventh kid. And

19:36

I think that was like a beautiful thing

19:38

that I witnessed from her. We'll

19:41

be back with more pop culture moms after this

19:44

quick break. We've

19:51

got the exclusive view behind the

19:54

table every day right after the

19:56

show while the topics are still hot.

19:58

The ladies go deeper into The Moment

20:00

but need a D V S is

20:02

used to a high mohinder for them

20:05

forever. You get your podcast hi I'm

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friend to Fries and I'm and Mara

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and we are the hosts of a

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of honest, unfiltered advice we usually reserved

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for top executives. Maybe you have a

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coworker with Foundry. Issues. Are you. Want

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to know how to inspire and motivate your team to

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the paul and will help you. Just.

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Use. The.

20:47

What is it like

20:49

balancing motherhood with like

20:51

such a high pressure,

20:53

physically and emotionally demanding

20:55

career? My. Life is not

20:57

at all like how I imagined it

20:59

would be. I knew the Sat. Curvier.

21:02

Was was really. Really important

21:04

for me and it's such

21:06

a unique experience. And position to

21:09

be. And it's not just as a as

21:11

a professional classical the answer but as a

21:13

black woman in this field and wanting to

21:15

push forward and be the best that I

21:17

could be and go as far as I

21:19

could go. And so. You know,

21:21

I knew I wanted to have kids. I've always

21:24

wanted to have a big family but it just

21:26

kind of p change something that it was put

21:28

on the backburner because there's no way. That.

21:31

I could have had a child's as it

21:33

for the family member and been from other

21:35

disorders or how to be the other solutions

21:37

and from as a difference between sir when

21:39

it's something that needs to change but. You're

21:42

taken away. There's time away from the

21:44

siege, Would you do that? Other opportunities

21:46

are given to other people's and just

21:48

to be like like they won't take

21:50

he was seriously which is terrible. And

21:53

so I waited until I was

21:55

in a position where I felt

21:57

like. i have done so

22:00

much and I'm so proud of what I've

22:02

done and I feel fulfilled. And

22:04

now I'm not back on the stage so

22:07

I don't really have that perspective yet of

22:09

what it is to really be a performing

22:12

ballerina and with my son but

22:14

I have like five other jobs

22:16

and it's very difficult. And

22:19

it's hard to find the balance.

22:22

I feel like also your focus that

22:25

you have from ballet for so many

22:27

years of a professional career and as

22:29

a principal dancer and that like

22:31

mental strength also helps you to juggle

22:33

all the hats that you wear. Yeah

22:36

and I think for

22:38

both Leila and I, I mean and

22:40

this is something that we're always talking

22:42

about but just all of

22:44

the incredible skills you gain by

22:47

being a part of an art form, a discipline

22:51

like ballet that carries you

22:53

beyond the stage. That

22:55

discipline, that mental strength, the

22:57

patience as a mother

22:59

that's been very helpful. I'm

23:02

wondering, I know that the world

23:05

of professional dance is often thought

23:07

of as you know toxic for

23:09

girls and I guess their relationship

23:12

to their bodies. Misty,

23:14

I know that you've talked about how

23:16

your body changing that that

23:19

really affected you on a deep level and kind

23:21

of led you to some disordered eating. Do

23:24

you still feel affected

23:27

by the past, what

23:29

you've like learned I guess in the

23:32

world of ballet and professional dance about

23:34

body and food and how you should

23:36

look? Does that feel like something you

23:39

will probably always have to be mindful

23:41

of? I feel like I have a

23:43

very healthy relationship with food and

23:46

with my body but I went through a

23:48

time where I was just being told over

23:50

and over again like you don't

23:53

belong and this is why and the reasoning was

23:55

because of my body and

23:57

you know having had an incredible

23:59

support system. I got to a place where

24:01

it was like, okay, I need support

24:03

where I can understand that I just need to be

24:05

my healthiest self. It wasn't about trying

24:07

to look like someone else or weighing

24:09

a certain amount, but

24:12

it was like I need to be as healthy as I

24:14

can be and be smart and learn about how I take

24:16

care of myself. And then when

24:18

I got to that place and understanding in my

24:20

mind, it was deciphering what they were doing. Like

24:22

when I say them, it's like the ballet culture,

24:26

American Ballet Theatre's artistic staff, and

24:28

it was like, oh, well,

24:30

I don't have the right skin color. I don't

24:32

belong and this is what they're telling me. And

24:35

so it was kind of unwrapping all

24:37

of that and stepping back and saying

24:39

like I do belong. I do

24:42

fit in here. I go on

24:44

stage and I can make people happy

24:46

and that's what the end goal should

24:48

be. It shouldn't be about the package

24:50

that you're in. And so

24:52

that's always, you know, what I'm saying

24:55

to young people is that it's

24:57

really about the only control you have

24:59

is being your best

25:01

and healthiest self. Because

25:04

in the end, when

25:06

you are sick and when you're not taking care of your

25:08

body, you're not going to be able to do what you

25:10

want to do and you're not going

25:12

to be able to last. So if they kind of

25:14

beat you down and get you to this place where

25:16

you're not healthy, it's not worth

25:19

it because you're not going to physically be strong

25:21

enough to do what

25:24

you want. So true. That's

25:27

like the healthiest response. I'm just going to go

25:29

on record. That's the

25:31

best response I will never hear. You

25:33

can say better than that. I

25:36

think that also why Layla

25:38

and I formed our production

25:40

company, Life Emotion Productions, is

25:42

because there are positive experiences and

25:44

we want to bring those experiences to

25:46

the forefront because what's already presented to

25:49

the world and why people feel the

25:51

way they do about ballet is because

25:53

it's always the same negative trope. It's

25:57

not black. It's not black. The

26:00

only people that something about bags on the other day

26:02

where she was like island that movie but imagine if

26:04

I give you took your little daughter to see that

26:06

she would not want to do ballet and I was

26:09

like you're right you know it's cut and dry as

26:11

you designed to lure people into the are far. Away

26:14

As A As A as

26:16

A Successor Yes on me,

26:18

but but there's so there's

26:20

So much so as it

26:22

is beautiful. There's so many

26:24

positive, beautiful experiences. And

26:26

that's something that we want explore

26:28

and highlight. and I want to

26:31

talk about flower. In. It

26:33

we see you, Misty, play a

26:35

role list and you place your

26:37

dreams. I'm whole to. Care. For.

26:40

Your. Mother in the in the film

26:42

who it is living with dementia So

26:44

tell us about the story and how

26:47

it came about and why. You guys

26:49

wanted to make Leyland. I have wanted

26:51

to make Constant again. That's really awesome

26:54

Say it and inclusive of different people

26:56

and using dance as a tool. Seems.

26:59

Silly stories. So. Nelson

27:01

Swords who is the executive producer on Flour

27:03

and It's a good friend of Land Mine

27:06

and Layla isn't and we've known him for

27:08

many years. I think the very first ballet

27:10

he ever came to was the first night

27:12

I was performing the role of the Firebird

27:15

and near a City at the Metropolitan Opera

27:17

House and he just has solid love with

27:19

it. And afterwards he was like wheat. We

27:21

have to get you on screen. Acting.

27:24

Because that that role in particular

27:27

is a very meaty acting role

27:29

for classical. Music:

27:31

How do we do this in the

27:33

like Aids as do not have interest

27:35

in financing really Be no in a

27:38

traditional sense. And so he's like

27:40

a wet is it's. Like.

27:42

A silent film. where you

27:44

just dancing they're moving and that's where

27:46

the the idea really came from and

27:48

then it was like well now we're

27:50

at what is the backdrop gonna be

27:52

like community are we so kissing on

27:54

and enough kind of how how the

27:56

story evil can i say at it's

27:58

core it's a modern ballet You know,

28:00

it's like taking those classical ballets

28:02

that were created in the 1800s by

28:06

European white men and

28:08

making a modern version that's

28:10

welcoming, that's representative, that has

28:12

to do with actual current

28:14

issues. Because a lot of

28:16

those classical ballets, if you're familiar with them,

28:18

they usually have to do with women who

28:21

are like, they've had scorned, you

28:23

know, by their lovers who left them for

28:25

a woman who was richer than them or

28:27

something like that. And then they killed themselves

28:29

or went mad. We can update that

28:31

a little bit. In this podcast,

28:34

we talk a lot about moms and

28:36

pop culture and how they apply to

28:38

our lives. So there are a

28:40

lot of pop culture references for

28:42

stage moms. Do any

28:45

remind you of anything you've

28:47

seen before? Were you like seeing

28:49

dance moms play out? I

28:51

mean, I've certainly known a few in

28:54

my day. It's,

28:57

you know, it's so exaggerated, I think, on TV

28:59

that's like a caricature of the actual people. But

29:03

I think what it all roots from is

29:05

like, loving your kids so

29:07

much that like they're more important to

29:09

you than anybody else. So yeah, I've seen,

29:11

I mean, I've just seen like a lot

29:13

of overzealous mothers, you

29:16

know, I think the best thing

29:18

that happens though, is once you get to

29:20

the point where you have to leave the

29:22

nest and the mom

29:24

can't really do much else. And usually

29:27

that's when those kids really thrive and

29:29

grow. It's when they're set free. Yeah,

29:32

yeah. I mentor a lot of young

29:34

people. And a lot of

29:36

the times when I'm talking to young

29:38

dancers, I speak with their moms as

29:41

well and kind of give them

29:43

that advice. It's so

29:45

great to let them know you're there,

29:48

but let them come to you when they

29:50

meet you. To

29:53

expand their minds in terms of what

29:55

it looks like to have a support system

29:57

and it doesn't always have to be from

29:59

the... It

30:01

could be from a teacher, it could be

30:04

from someone you seek out, that

30:06

maybe they might open up a little more

30:08

to someone who's not their mom and

30:11

just finding healthier ways to

30:13

be supportive that will allow them

30:16

to really blossom. Would

30:18

you guys put your kids into ballet?

30:21

I wasn't planning on putting my daughter,

30:23

Rumi, into ballet class and

30:25

then she asked me actually at three

30:28

which I felt was very early. But

30:30

I was like, okay, I put her in a YMCA

30:32

class so that she could try it out. And

30:35

then she didn't want to do it. So right

30:38

now she's on a break from dancing but I'm

30:40

really hoping that she'll come back to it because

30:42

she has great coordination and I see her when

30:45

she thinks no one's watching, she dances

30:47

and I can see her expressing herself through

30:49

that. But when she thinks people are watching,

30:51

she holds back. I've had

30:53

these conversations a lot with my

30:57

friends of mine who I've danced with throughout

30:59

my career and they all have kids now

31:01

and I would say that the majority of

31:03

them, because of their own experiences in

31:06

the ballet world or as a professional, their

31:09

immediate answer is no. I

31:11

don't want my child to have

31:13

that experience. And I've given it

31:15

a lot of thought and I've

31:17

always said, yes, I want to

31:20

expose my child to everything, ballet

31:22

included. And so I've created my

31:24

own curriculum and I'm trying to

31:26

change a lot of the

31:28

negative environments, people perpetuating the

31:30

same trauma they've experienced into

31:32

their teaching within the ballet

31:34

studio. When Jackson's ready,

31:36

I will definitely put him in but

31:38

he showed, like Ruby, he showed interest

31:40

very early. I have

31:43

a photograph. It's the

31:45

only ballet photograph I have in my

31:47

whole house and it's of Ballerina Maya

31:49

Placet-Skaya and she's taking her curtain

31:52

call, her bow and he's been obsessed

31:55

with this photo since he was like

31:57

six months old. I

32:00

don't know. maybe four months said? I showed him his

32:02

first ballet. And. He's obsessed he what

32:04

he sits down and much as full length

32:06

sunlight. For Lakers there

32:09

and he dances. he does it all

32:11

on his own. He loves classical music.

32:13

So we'll see we'll see what

32:15

have hit a buffer Things you

32:17

guys so much for joining us

32:19

We love talking cel Thank you

32:21

for having has the I think

32:23

he so much that with our

32:25

conversation with ballerinas and now film

32:27

producers Misty Copeland and we'll have

32:29

any as. You

32:32

know I think that you and I can.

32:35

It went into their thinking that they were

32:37

gonna reveal some crew from side to professional

32:39

dance. Like maybe they're going to say hey

32:42

no at Black Swan more of a documentary

32:44

than you think. But. Turns out

32:46

know. Nose runs out loads

32:48

of very emotionally. Well

32:50

adjusted, Emotional? yeah I'll

32:52

see ya like. Yeah.

32:55

I mean, arguably, you and I

32:57

are much, much thicker than both

32:59

of these women, And we've never

33:01

danced, Never danced. Wow. I'm

33:03

Sabrina Kohlberg and I'm Anti Missile.

33:05

Thanks for listening. Next week

33:08

we're talking to one of my

33:10

favorite comedian, Zapper Pig new Tara

33:13

about processing the lots of her

33:15

mother raising twins and finding humor

33:17

encouraging hop. Culture Mom's is a production

33:20

of A B C Audio in partnership

33:22

with Good Morning. America posted by

33:24

me, Sabrina Colbert and me

33:26

and He Mitchell are so.

33:28

It's pretty psyched Meal Tillerson a solace

33:30

on a horse. Sabrina Holborn in The

33:33

Music By edited by. Old this

33:35

oh thanks to I'm Lisa

33:37

to the loop sauce on

33:39

hand area catheter Live a

33:41

lesson influencing executive sitting thinking

33:43

more in there and that

33:45

he'd have producer for A

33:47

B C I. Step

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