GAIL DRAKE: The compelling story of the premiere black swan

By Gail Drake

On a sunny afternoon in 1996 in San Pedro, Calif., a shy little girl of Italian, German and African-American descent named Misty walked into a local Boys and Girls Club. Her mother had separated from her third husband, and after living with various friends and boyfriends, Misty and her five siblings were living at the Sunset Inn, sleeping on the couch and floor. Her middle school drill team coach had encouraged her to attend the free ballet class taught at the club each week.

Misty stepped on the basketball court and started to learn classic ballet steps at age 13. The teacher, Cynthia Bradley, invited her to attend her own small ballet school. Within three months, Misty was dancing “en pointe” (on her toes). Her mother told her she would have to give up ballet, but Bradly wanted Misty to continue and offered to host her.

Soon Misty was living with her mother on the weekends and with the Bradley family during the week. She lived there for three years and enjoyed quality ballet training as well as their close-knit family and Jewish traditions. The next year, Misty won a national ballet contest. She was cast as Clara in her high school’s “Nutcracker” – and the show drew 2,000 guests per performance. At age 15, she won first place in the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight awards in March 1998, garnering media attention.

Sadly, her mother resented the Bradleys’ influence and decided to end Misty’s dance involvement. What followed was a highly publicized, volatile custody dispute involving celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, cross-filing an emancipation petition and restraining orders. Once resolved, Misty returned to her mother and enrolled in another dance school. For summer 2000, Misty was offered an opportunity to enroll in the American Ballet Theatre, one of the Top 3 classical ballet companies in the U.S. She studied for two summers, danced the role of Kitri in “Don Quixote,” and was selected to join the ABT Studio Company.

At that time, Misty was a flyweight of 108 pounds, a common situation for ballet dancers. Then Misty suffered stress fractures to her lumbar. Her doctor suggested medication to strengthen bones and promote puberty. Misty gained 10 pounds in one month. Her body shape changed to curves, leading to body image struggles and eating disorders. Recognizing Misty’s isolation and self-doubt, ABT’s artistic director asked board member/writer Susan Fales-Hill to mentor her. Fales-Hill introduced Misty to black women trailblazers who encouraged Misty and helped her gain perspective.

Anchored and focused, Misty flourished. Reviewers noted she was more radiant than higher-ranking dancers and recognized her standout roles in multiple productions, including “Swan Lake,” “Tarantella” and “Giselle,” to name a few. She was promoted to a soloist in 2007, one of the youngest dancers ever to be so honored. Pages could be filled reciting her resume and accomplishments in classic and modern ballet repertoire. On June 30, 2015, Misty was promoted to principal ballerina, the first African-American woman so honored in ABT’s 75-year history. Her standout roles included the title role in “Firebird” and Swanilda in “Coppelia.”

During her tenure at ABT, Misty was the only African-American ballerina and often felt cultural isolation. In her eighth book, “The Wind at My Back,” Misty shared her friendship with ground-breaking ballerina Raven Wilkerson, her mentor.

“Raven is really everything that we are told black dancers are not and cannot be,” Misty wrote.

Wilkerson is credited as the first black ballerina employed full-time in a major ballet company. She started ballet at age 9 at the Ballet Russe School in New York City with well-known Russian Bolshoi Theatre dancers. She continued training through high school and auditioned for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carolo in 1954. On her third try, she was accepted and toured throughout the U.S. Wilkerson was light-skinned and was asked to wear white makeup on stage and not to disclose her race.

Traveling through the Jim Crow South, she encountered harsh racism. An Atlanta hotel owner barred her from staying there. KKK members interrupted a performance in Alabama. And the role opportunities were limited. A fellow dancer told her, “We couldn’t have a black swan.”

In 1966, Wilkerson moved to Europe and was appointed a soloist with the Dutch National Ballet, where she performed for seven years. In the ’70s and ’80s, she performed with the New York City Opera.

“Raven was powerful and soft and graceful,” Misty said of her mentor’s artistic skills. “She had just these incredibly articulate feet and hands and warmth in her face that I think allowed for everyone … to connect and relate to her.”

Misty credits Raven with helping her find grace when facing race issues.

“Raven looked at these [racist] people with … a broader way to seeing the world, where … everyone’s experiencing something in their lives,” she wrote. “I learned so much about how to have empathy for other people, and grace, and the incredible hope that she always had.”

Misty praised her mentor, “who had paved this path and blazed the trail for me to even be in the position that I was in.”

Misty recounted that before major performances, her friend would call her and say, “Let me be the wind at your back.” When Misty completed her debut performance as the white swan Odette in “Swan Lake” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, she was presented roses – -by her friend, Raven Wilkerson, on a stage where Raven had never performed.

They were the extraordinary black swans.

How important, healing, and consequential are mentorships, especially intergenerational relationships with those of shared callings and values? My life has been significantly enriched by older women who took time to listen, nurture, instruct and encourage me. How important it is to take time to build bridges with those who come behind us and to help them succeed.