Just because you're a star dancer doesn't necessarily make you comfortable being in the front of the room.

Dut, dut, gah gah.

Okay.

And I think that sometimes that's what kind of happens.

I think it's like something you or can learn, but it's not natural to everybody.

And I think I didn't know I had it, but like through doing these shows and doing this show at first at City Center, I was like, oh, I really like doing it.

And it does come naturally to me.

No, I thought it was good!

I grew up in my mother's dance studio.

She always had me teach the kids, like the younger kids, and then I would make up their competition dances, because it's competitive studio.

But like the competition dances, I was making up, were jazz dances or contemporary lyrical solos.

Never, ever did I give myself enough credit to think I could do it at a professional level.

And for like ballet dancers and ballet companies.

It's funny, even when I would, like, teach a ballet class and you're giving corrections, I think, wow, I really need to implement that myself.

So you start learning stuff about yourself while you're teaching.

I'm very lucky that I've gotten to be in a lot of new ballets, you know?

But you're kind of your body's the instrument for, like, their voice and their thoughts.

And this in this show, it's all of my thoughts that I get to put on the dancers.

And so I know things that I like and I know things that I don't like.

And I feel like that really helps me when I'm in the front of the room, know how to, like, run the show.

I feel like the one thing I pride myself on most is that all the dancers are, like, happy and inspired daily.

I think that that is the most important thing that you can get everything you want, but do it in a way with love and care.

I think I've always had this wish to kind of make ballet more accessible, and I don't know if it's because, like growing up, it wasn't my favorite style, and I love it so much now that I really wanted to kind of make it more relatable.

And I feel like a show like this allows there to be room for, oh my god, I didn't know that that's what ballet could be.

You know, like, here she is on point tapping with Michelle Dorrance.

And I think that that's really nice for the New York audience and for the dancers.

And then like for the dancers I get to see every day at the New York City Ballet.

I think what they find really interesting about doing this particular show is getting to work on new works that, you know, they can't be seen at New York City Ballet dancing.

This show is like my little baby.

We feel like you shouldn't be able to have that much fun while you're working.

But that's how it feels when we're together.

And then we're always so sad.

When it ends.

I think there's, like, great things about social media and also things that make it really hard to grow up, like, in this time.

I would have loved to have been able to see, you know, some of my favorite dancers just on my phone because so many of us don't have resources to, like, fly to where they're performing.

And I think that that's an amazing thing, to be able to have that kind of quality right here.

But I also think it's really challenging, like, growing up and seeing, you know, everybody puts like their best foot forward on Instagram.

And so you kind of feel like everybody is perfect and that starts making you feel, I don't know, down on yourself.

And so for me with Instagram, I understand that I have this voice that people are kind of looking to.

And so I really try to show the good, like how much I love dance, but also like when I'm going through an injury so that people can feel like they understand that we go through this too, you know?

It's difficult, and it's horrible, and I remember every time I get injured, sometimes I feel like the world is ending, like, how can I not be able to dance?

But I always feel like I've come back like a stronger and different dancer.

And it's easier said than done.

But I just think putting it out there, maybe somebody sees it that can relate to it and that can help them.

I think that's really important because I think it can get a little challenging just looking at like what we think is, is perfect that everybody's putting forward.

That was exactly the inspiration for "XO Ballerina Big Sis."

It started out on Instagram doing little talks, just like I was talking to you, talking to somebody and telling them about this injury and what I was feeling.

And how I was down, but how I was trying to remember these things that had helped me get through my previous injuries.

I'm really hoping that it can really sort of help inspire, guide, like the next generation of dancers in any way.