When people meet me in person, they're usually surprised at how petite I am because there's just idea that because I'm black I just look a certain way. Usually they say, "Oh, they have flat feet so they just don't have the flexibility that it takes to create the line in a point shoe." saying that African-Americans are too muscular or just aren't lean enough. I don't think every African-American or Latino have the same body type, but, yes, that's been one of the excuses. She experienced a lot more severe, life-threatening racism than other minorities experienced in the ballet world at this point. And they were trying to kind of hide her and have her blend in and not notice that she was a dancer of color. She was pretty much chased out when they were touring the South by the KKK, who were threatening that she couldn't perform in their theaters or stay in the hotels. On how Wilkinson was treated when she was touring in the 1950s "It was one of the first really big principal roles I was ever given an opportunity to dance with American Ballet Theatre," she says. American Ballet Theatre Misty Copeland dances in the title role of The Firebird.
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