- By 13, she was accepted into
the School of American Ballet.
That's right, I said, 13.
At 18, she joined the New York City Ballet.
Throughout her career, she performed worldwide.
Now she's back at the School of American Ballet
as the first black female ballet teacher
on the permanent faculty.
That's what I call a whole lot of woman.
(upbeat music)
All right, well, I have the lovely Aesha Ash on the line.
What's up, Aesha?
- Kelly!
- Hi!
Oh my gosh, you are so beautiful.
You, like, exude such a light.
- Oh, thank you.
- Well, here is my first question
that you've probably been asked a million times,
but I'm very interested.
How did you get into ballet?
- So, I started dance at a very young age,
about when my mom signed me up for a community center class,
because I just had so much energy,
and I was just bopping around the house all the time.
And then eventually got signed up for an actual dance school
where they were, like, teaching jazz and tap and lyrical.
And then I just, I fell in love.
I just got bit by the dance bug,
and was doing, like, a ton of competitions.
And then that became boring.
And then I got pulled into ballet,
and it was not love at first class.
It was hard.
And I just... I was not a natural.
I started late and it... but I liked the idea.
I liked that challenge.
I liked that, you know, it was pushing me in ways
that I just hadn't been challenged before.
- Yeah.
I have actually heard you say you did face
a lot of challenges being a woman of color in ballet.
- Yeah.
So, from very early on, my mother was warned that it was...
and it wasn't to discourage me.
It was just a subtle warning that it would be difficult
for me as a woman of color to enter the ballet world.
And when I heard that, I was like, okay, now I gotta do it.
- Oh my god, I love you. You're like me.
I'm like, challenge accepted, thank you.
I'm like, you just told me I couldn't do it,
which is why I'm going to do it better than you.
I love that you have that fire and that spirit.
- Yeah.
I was just like, I got to do this now.
And I think it's also because, you know,
when I was younger, I was, you know, an inner city kid.
I went out to a suburban school where it was
just a handful of black kids.
And, you know, you are, from a very early age,
you understand what being other-ized is,
and the microaggressions.
And so, from very early on, I was like, no,
I'm not going to accept, you know,
the stereotypes people throw at me.
Like, I know who I am.
And so, from very early on, I wanted to, like,
dispel these stereotypes that exist for women of color
and people in communities like mine from the inner city.
And then you hear that about the ballet world.
I was like, what better way to do that than
through my art as a dancer on stage every day,
as this, like, fairy and princess,
that I can show the world, you know,
and dispel these stereotypes in
the most elegant, graceful, ethereal way as possible.
Just the total opposite of how the media always portrays us.
- Yeah. I love that.
So, after eight years in the New York City Ballet...
Congratulations.
You made a big decision to retire from the company.
So why the decision? Why now?
- Yeah.
So, before getting into the New York City Ballet,
I had lost my sister to pancreatic cancer.
- I'm sorry.
- And then, getting into the company was, you know...
quite a few years in to the company,
I lost my father to cancer,
and it was just one blow too many.
And already I felt like I was playing catch up
my entire career because I started late.
I wasn't a natural ballerina.
And then being a minority,
you always feel, like, that you have to work twice as hard.
And it just got to the point where I just
didn't have that fight in me anymore.
Really a very difficult decision,
especially on one of my last days,
I met a young dancer coming out from one of my performances,
and, you know, she was telling me how inspired she is
to see me and how they are so proud of me,
even though she was by herself.
And I knew she was talking about
the black dance community at large.
And that's why I was dancing.
Anytime I went into class, I brought my entire culture,
my community with me, and I just lost it.
I mean, this poor girl was like, what happened?
And I was just like, ugly cry.
And I just told her, I'm sorry.
I just feel like I've let you all down.
And I carried that with me for a long time until, you know,
I eventually started my outreach
and giving back to my community and, you know,
fighting these stereotypes through imagery
and through my art,
that I feel like I can continue that going in
and through teaching, that I can continue that fight
that I started so long ago.
- Yeah.
I mean, and, like, I was gonna say earlier,
you said something to her.
I'm like, what responsibility to weigh on your shoulders.
Like, you know, it's just a love.
And I feel like that's sometimes my career
with other things that have nothing to do with singing,
but it's always, like, what a responsibility it is.
And it's like, I just got in this to have fun.
And this is what I love to do, and it's a passion.
And then there's this whole other weight that comes with it
that you're supposed to carry.
Cause these people, like you said, they look to you
and they go, God, you're kind of carrying the flag
for us right now.
Like, this is a really important thing you're doing.
There's a lot of responsibility to that.
- It is, and I don't think people realize, you know,
I don't think, because ballet is hard.
Let's just... you know, it's hard,
been on your toes all day long, it's hard.
But what they don't realize is that you carry
that additional burden of being a minority.
And then, when you leave the dance studio,
you're still a minority.
So it's like, it's just, you can never escape it.
And you know, art is supposed to be an escape.
So then even in your art, you're still facing that feeling
of being a minority, being different and being other-ized,
- It's just always kind of thrown at you.
- Yeah.
And then you're young,
you're like a young adolescent going through
all of this stuff.
- And plus all the other adolescent stuff.
Like, do you know what I'm saying?
Like there's already a whole slew of stuff.
- Right.
- Yeah.
So recently a video of an eight year old girl,
and she's an aspiring ballerina.
It went viral, and she shows real grace and promise.
So, Aesha, have you seen the video?
- I have, and I adore this video.
- I love her.
Well, she's actually in our waiting room
and has no idea that Aesha is here
or that Aesha has a big time offer for her.
I cannot wait to see her reaction.
Welcome back, y'all.
At eight years old,
my next guest has big dreams of being a ballerina,
twirling around on stages all over the world.
Recently, a video of her in dance class went viral.
Take a look.
(classical piano music)
All right, well, we have Holiday zooming in,
along with her mom, Kenya.
What's up ladies? How you doing?
- Hello, hi!
- Hello, Holiday. Hello, Kenya.
How are y'all doing?
- We're good, good.
- Well, first of all, Holiday,
I was blown away by the video.
You are... you exude such confidence, like,
for such a little one.
It's powerful.
Like, watching you is like
watching something powerful happening.
You're a very graceful dancer.
So what did you think when your video went viral?
- It was so exciting. I didn't think it would go viral.
I was just doing a pique and a turn and a turn,
but I'm almost on pointe, but I didn't think it would.
- Well, it did.
It did.
So I mean, Kenya, how did Holiday get into ballet?
- Well, at the time, she was almost five.
I was working three jobs at the time.
My main job is school teacher.
On the weekends, I worked at a banquet hall,
and I drove Uber.
Well, at the banquet hall,
there was a dance studio right next door.
And so they had this Saturday class,
which helped me a lot because I could put her in the class.
I can go to work.
And that's where it started.
Her teacher almost immediately was like,
she needs to be competing.
She needs to complete.
Holiday, like, what do you love about ballet?
There's a lots of...
I took dance as a kid, too, and there's so many different,
you know, styles that you could be doing.
So what do you love about ballet?
- It's fun. You get to make new friends.
The technique is very detailed,
and it feels like the sunshine is on me when I dance.
- Oh my gosh.
I'm not going to cry.
That was like... that should be, like,
the title of a song or an album.
Oh my God. It feels like the sunshine is on me.
Wow!
Kenya, so you say you've run into some challenges, though,
at dance competitions, right?
- Yes. Well, Holiday started off
at a predominantly black studio.
There are a few Latina girls, but you know,
it was predominantly black.
So it wasn't until we stepped into the competition world
that I realized, you know, this is new.
This is new for the African American community
to compete like this.
Matter of fact, her first competition,
she was the only little black girl in her category.
And so I knew at that point,
I had to make sure and surround her with people
who looked like her,
who could help her be comfortable and not make her feel
like, uh oh, this is not where I need to be.
- Yeah.
- [Kenya] So -
- Representation, it's so important.
- It is.
- Well, I have another black successful ballerina
on the line who has seen Holiday in action
and wants to meet her.
She's a world renowned dancer who spent eight years in the
New York City Ballet.
Let's get her in here, Aesha Ash.
Come on in here.
Yes! This is your future!
Yeah, so, okay.
Aesha, hey again, and meet Holiday and mom, Kenya.
- Hello, Holiday, and hello, Kenya.
I just want to tell you, Holiday, that I've seen
not only that video, but almost all of your videos,
and I just love you.
I absolutely adore you.
- So, Aesha, you have something special
to share with Holiday, right?
- I do.
So, Holiday, when things are safe,
when we are safer in this situation,
I would love, love, love for you to come to New York City
because I would love to meet you.
And I would love for you to come
to the School of American Ballet,
where I will now be teaching as
the first African American woman in the history
of the school to be a full time faculty member teaching.
I'm very excited about that.
And I would just be honored for you to come and watch class,
see these professional students
at such a prestigious school.
You know, hopefully be able to take you over to
New York City Ballet, to see those dancers, to see backstage
and to see, you know, what this world can give you.
You know, to see what that professional dance experience
can be like.
And so I would just...
I would absolutely love, love, love that.
- What do you think?
- Good!
- I'll tell you what.
You're going to get the bug.
Cause I went on a scholarship in school
to go to New York City and I saw a Broadway show, "Les Mis."
It was the first thing I'd ever seen on Broadway.
And I'm telling you what, you're going to get that bug.
You're going to watch that show, Holiday,
and you're going to go, that is what I want to do.
That looks... that is me.
That is my destiny.
That is what... you're going to get that bug.
And it's just gonna, it's just gonna hold,
and it's such a great thing.
But thank you so much, Aesha Ash, y'all, Holiday.
- Thank you.
- I love y'all.
Thank you so much for being part of the show
and inspiring us that
even though something might not be the norm,
that doesn't mean that you can't do it,
and you can't be the first says everyone here.