(gentle upbeat music) - At New York City Ballet, it's all about efficiency.

- [Sophie] Yes.

- Quickness.

George Balanchine said, "I don't want anybody to be able "to even tell what the dancers are doing, "they're moving so fast at all times."

Even when they eat breakfast.

No, he didn't say that.

I'm kidding, he didn't say that, I said that.

(upbeat theme music) - [Sophie] Hi.

- Hi Sophie, how are you?

- [Sophie] Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too.

- Thank you so much for doing this.

- Are you kidding me?

I'm really excited.

- So excited.

You look great.

I feel like I need a photo of you here.

We gotta get a behind the scenes, you know?

Should we go look at outfits before we get started?

Oh, let's do it.

- [Sophie] Are you good?

- Voila.

(camera lens clicking) - I like this outfit you have on.

- [Sophie] Thank you... all right, so talk to me about what you were thinking.

- I mean, at some point, obviously because I'm a ballerina.

- Yes.

- We have to put on this leotard.

- Yeah, definitely.

- And the point shoes.

- [Sophie] Yes.

- But I feel like part of my brand is how much of a human being I am.

- Yeah.

- Outside of ballet.

- Okay.

- [India] So we have to have a little chic moment.

- Question, would you ever do leotard with this, so it's like sort of dance?

- [India] Sophie, that could be chic.

- I kind of like that.

- Okay, let's do it.

- [Sophie] Welcome to set.

- This is amazing.

- Look, we still have some nice light so we have to hurry up before we lose it.

I know that is gonna go away.

- This is incredible.

This could cure my seasonal depression right here.

- Let's do it, let's get you over there.

I kinda wanna get this light behind you.

We could do some that's half lit in the face.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- That looks great.

I'm gonna turn off the flash, so it's like a little bit more of a silhouette.

- Okay.

- Almost like it's gonna be black and white, and just your figure in front of light in the back.

- Oh wow.

- You know what I mean?

- Okay, so I need to do like shapes.

- Yeah, shapes, exactly, that's stunning.

So your mom was a dancer too?

- My mother was a dancer, yeah.

I always wonder if I would've been a dancer if my mother was not one.

I never had that growing up thing of, "Can you do this for a living?"

Like, "Is that a real job?"

Like I know a lot of my colleagues have parents that were like, "You should go to school."

Like, "I don't know if dance is a real thing "to pursue," but I never had that 'cause I've seen it since I was young.

- [Sophie] Yeah, and something I listened to you said you weren't that serious about dancing until you were 12.

- [India] Yeah.

- Like serious, but you didn't know that you were that good.

- I remember like getting an opportunity in like the end of school year like recital at the smaller studio I was at in Michigan.

And the girls were like, "Wow, that was really great.

"I didn't know you could like whip that out," or something.

And I was like, "Oh," like I remember that the first time I'd ever heard... and they were like the older girls, you know?

So I was like, "Oh, maybe I am kind of-" - [Sophie] Good?

- Decently good at this.

Like maybe this is something that I- - [Sophie] Could really do and succeed.

- Could really do, yeah.

- Okay, before we lose this light, I wanna quickly get you like- - Should I go up a little?

- Let's see, you know what?

I wanna see your necklace that says, "India."

- Oh my gosh.

- [Sophie] So will you push your hair back a little?

- I almost asked you, if I should take this off.

- [Sophie] Oh, I love it.

- Okay, good.

- That's so nice.

Okay, we're coming in close, that's really nice.

We're gonna take a little breather.

- [India] Lovely.

- Do some "Rapid Fire."

My favorite part.

- [India] "Rapid Fire."

- Get all the questions.

- [India] Okay.

(upbeat music) - Get ready, favorite debut you've ever made?

- George Balanchine's "La Valse."

- Ballet you want to dance that you haven't yet?

- The Firebird in George Balanchine's "Firebird."

- What is a hidden talent most people don't know about you?

- My friends would say that I would have to say impressions like impersonations.

- Ooh.

- I'm like a parrot a little bit.

- Do you have one?

- No, I'm not putting that out into the public.

- Worst advice you've ever received?

- Someone telling you, "If I were you, I would do this," about a situation that they've never been in and they've never been me.

"If I were in New York City Ballet, I would," blah, blah blah, blah.

Hmm, doesn't look like you're in New York City Ballet, though.

- Finish the phrase, "Ballet is..." - Gruesome.

- That was a good one.

- It's honest.

- It was unexpected but honest First thing you do after a show?

- Cold plunge.

- Favorite ice cream flavor?

- Vanilla.

I'm a straight up vanilla girl.

But then I like my chocolate chip cookie.

I have to have the chocolate chip cookies on the side, like a little Oreo something, something, blah blah blah.

- Do you crumble it up inside?

- Obviously, heat up the cookie in the microwave.

- Just checking.

We're gonna move on to, "This or That."

It's kind of like "Rapid Fire," but this or that.

- This or that, okay.

- Cold plunge or nap?

- Nap.

- Hot mic or vlog?

- What?

What'd you say, Sophie?

- Hot mic or vlog?

- Hot mic?

- Yeah, mic.

- Or vlog?

- Yeah.

- Vlog, vlog, vlog.

- Vlog, cool, cool.

- Balanchine claw or Vaganova?

- Vaganova.

- Oh shit, let me try that again.

Balanchine, can't even spell- - Or Vaganova.

But it sounds sexier when you say it that way.

Unfortunately, it's Vaganova.

- I'm gonna cry.

I'm gonna come back to that one.

- [India] Okay.

- Tights over or under a leotard?

- This is controversial, tights under because it is so much prettier.

- Okay.

- But I never do that and nor does like most professional ballet dancers throughout the day.

- Turns or balance?

- Pull the trigger.

I'm like, Jesus Christ... balance?

- Adagio or petit allegro?

- Adagio.

- Balanchine claw or Vaganova, sorry guys.

Dental floss or sewing thread?

- Sewing thread.

- Performing in front of a crowd of friends or a crowd of strangers?

- Probably friends.

I dance in front of a lot of strangers all the time and it's very nerve-wracking.

- "Center Stage" or "Save the Last Dance?"

- Oh, "Center Stage," duh.

That's the only right answer, by the way.

- I agree with that - From anyone.

- I agree with that.

I love that movie.

- Okay.

- Balanchine claw or Vaganova hands?

- Balanchine claw, duh.

- I love it.

That's it.

That's all I have for you.

♪ This or that, this, this or that ♪ (India vocalizing) - Did I say Vaganova, right?

- Yeah, you did, Vaganova.

- [Sophie] Oh my god.

- [India] Vaganova.

(classical music) - I wanna talk about when you became a soloist at New York City Ballet.

But before that you premiered with your Dewdrop premiere.

- [India] I did, yeah, that was three years ago now.

- [Sophie] What did that feel like?

- At some points, awful.

It was really frightening and scary.

And I think you need a level of bravery for ballet, in general.

- I can't imagine.

- I mean it's a very vulnerable place to kind of like have your career.

I think I'm proud of that first performance.

I do remember blacking out a little bit.

I couldn't even remember the first entrance.

I remember being like, "I think it was really bad "because I can't remember it."

I think I literally just blacked out.

(classical music) (classical music continues) - [Sophie] Were you the first Black Dewdrop?

- [India] Yeah the first Black - [Sophie] Ever?

- [India] woman to ever perform Dewdrop with the company in- - [Sophie] Insane.

- I think at that point the company might have been 74 years old.

- So you not only had the pressure of like being the role of Dewdrop, which is already a crazy amount of pressure.

- [India] Already enough.

- But then you had all of this on top of it.

- Yeah, which I think- - Must've been wild.

- I think sometimes, as grateful as I am, I'll say that sometimes I'm envious of other girls that they can just have the experience of it being their debut and that's all it is.

- Yeah.

- It's just like their debut and they're gonna dance as best as they can without this added pressure.

But also that's what makes my life so special.

- [Sophie] So you were then, made the first female Black soloist at New York City Ballet?

- [India] Yeah, yeah.

- What was that like?

- When I was younger I had a plan, very rough draft of what I wanted my life to look like.

And I knew once I had gotten to certain points, like once I had gotten to School of American Ballet, I was like, "This is the only thing that... "I have no plan B, I want to be in New York City Ballet "and I wanna move up the ranks.

"And that's just how it has to go."

And then I just like- - [Sophie] Did it.

- I bit down and I just, I did it.

- Did you bring an object today?

Like something that means something to you by any chance?

- I did bring an object, do you want me to get it?

- [Sophie] Do you mind?

- Okay.

It's very special for me.

- A sleep mask.

- Listen.

- Okay, I wanna hear.

- Listen- - [Sophie] I wanna hear all the things.

- You guys, one thing I do not play about is my sleep, at all.

For the amount that I work, I am a really great sleeper.

I rarely get less than nine hours, rarely.

Unless I really have a hard time going to sleep.

Less than eight is like unusual.

- [Sophie] Nonstarter.

- Yeah.

No, no, no I would never.

- Can we take your portrait in it?

- Are you kidding, yeah.

- [Sophie] I feel like, oh that's so cute.

- I love that I can't see anybody, I'm just like... - [Sophie] We're here, we're here, you look great.

- I have actually never, ever, ever done a dance move once.

- [Sophie] Oh gosh, okay, don't get hurt.

Oh my God, amazing.

- Just, you know, casual.

- [Sophie] Love it.

So I know you brought a photo, oh my god.

- This is her.

- [Sophie] Stop.

- Oh my god, I know.

At my Montessori.

It was called Open Door Montessori and we would sing this song during our performances 'cause we had like weekly performances, obviously.

We'd be like ♪ Welcome to the Open Door ♪ - All right so we're gonna recreate this photo with the black leotard, no undershirt.

- Let's do it.

- [Sophie] Let's do it.

Make it happen, yeah.

- I feel like we have to.

I'm standing in like a tiny little baby first position.

- [Sophie] And then you have a really nice tooth smile.

Teeth please, not the eyes.

And I'm gonna do it on film too because I feel like this has to be memorialized in film, one sec.

- I know.

- [Sophie] 'Cause by the way, I think that was film.

- No, it looks like a disposable camera or something, right?

- [Sophie] Doesn't it, teeth, nice.

So, now let's put on your pointe shoes.

- Let's do it.

- So I wanna see your shoes, the famous shoes.

- The shoes, they've already been used, obviously.

- [Sophie] Yeah.

- So they're like scraped on the bottom.

We use like little meat- - [Sophie] So that they don't - To like scrape the bottom so that we have more friction on the bottom.

And then we usually put a little rosin on there.

So it's been like rosin and worn on stage.

And then you can kind of see also where I like jet glued 'cause sometimes when they get really soft you wanna like harden them back up.

Freed of London.

Made in London.

My maker, his name is Felix and his maker stamp is D. And I have double D's, not double D's, double D's on the feet.

Ironically because double maker means narrower, less than a no X for narrow, like width.

Like my feet are that narrow that I need a negative side of a width, if that makes sense.

Like usually there's like 1 X, 2 X, I have no X. And then we have our, what we call, toe pads to kind of like protect the toes as much as we possibly can.

I mean there's not really much you can do.

- [Sophie] Yeah.

- This is just a silly little piece of fabric, you know?

- Now, in the last couple years they started matching the shoe tone to every dancer's skin tone, is that right?

- Yeah, yeah, it's crazy to even think about that like there will be girls who get in the company that like never experienced not having shoes their own color.

It's crazy to even think that I once was a girl like that.

I mean when I first got into New York City Ballet, all of the photos that I have of myself dancing, my first few years in the company, I'm just wearing pink shoes and tights.

Like that was just the normal thing.

I never even thought twice about it.

That was just all we had.

- When did it change?

- Probably by the beginning of 2022, I had my first order of this color bronze of shoe, which was really exciting, but it's so funny 'cause I can't believe that I ever wore anything other than this, you know?

It's so weird to think about.

- Does everyone have a different color tights?

- Yeah, everybody has a shade specifically matched to them.

I mean, we went through so many trials trying to get these colors figured out, so yeah.

- So should we take some photos in your shoes?

- [India] Let's do it.

- [Sophie] Do a little dancing - [India] Let's do it, I'm excited.

- [Sophie] 1, 2, 3, that was beautiful.

- I can do a little like, mysterious.

- [Sophie] Oh, I like the mysterious.

- [India] Count me in, Soph.

- [Sophie] 1, 2, 3.

Oh you guys really make it look just so effortless and beautiful.

- This is the easy part.

- [Sophie] It's unbelievable, you're like, "This is nothing" - It's the talking that's challenging.

- Yeah, oh, I like it.

So I've been directing you the whole time, taking your picture and I'm sure that you are a phenomenal director as well.

So would you be willing to trade places with me?

- Are you joking?

- I'm not joking.

- Yes, I would love to.

- Take my picture, okay.

- One of my like life goals is to start being behind the camera.

- Let's do it.

- Instead of in front of.

- This is your moment, I pass off the camera to you.

- Oh, and it's so heavy.

- It is heavy.

- I'm nervous.

Camera stuff feels expensive.

- [Sophie] No, you're good.

- Oh, I took a photo already.

A little weight.

- She's doing her stuff.

This is how she stays in shape.

- Now, Sophie, when you think of ballet, what's the first pose that comes to mind?

It could be anything.

- The pose you did in your recreation picture.

- Oh, this is called... do you know what this is called, Sophie?

- First position?

- Yes, I love that one too.

Okay, you're stealing like all my poses.

Can I give you like a real ballet pose and you try and do?

- Uh-huh.

- Should I give you something a little difficult?

- [Sophie] You do you.

- I feel like you could.

- Have fun with it.

- Can you gimme like a little side developpe?

- Oh my god.

- Like just like you don't have to hold it, just kick her up.

- No worries, no problem.

- Just think, like, Misty Copeland thoughts.

- [Sophie] Easy, got it.

- [India] And you'll be fine, okay.

- Gimme a 1, 2, 3.

- [India] 1, 2, 3.

Hit it, Sophie.

- I heard a hip crack.

- Can you gimme one like over the shoulder bad bitch, like here moment?

- Okay.

- [India] Okay and I'll give you a 1, 2, 3.

- [Sophie] I like it.

- [India] Okay.

- See choreographer, right here.

- Okay, so a 5, 6, 7, 8.

Baddie.

- Yay.

- That's what I'm talking about.

- That was amazing.

Let's go take some photos and Super 8 footage out on the street.

The idea is like you're at the end of your New York City movie.

Like think about like "Sex and the City" and there's a really cool song at the end, and it's like you're dancing out of the credit.

You know, final credit.

- Final credits.

- Final credits, okay, ready?

- Ready.

- Go.

(upbeat music) - [Sophie] Walk it, you're a runway walker too.

- [Woman] Hey girl.

- Hey girl.

Oh, my god.

- How are you, I'm so sorry.

- Wait, you're my favorite person on TikTok ever.

- No, you're my favorite person in person.

- Like literally, hi.

- No really, hi.

- You look beautiful and amazing.

- Thank you.

- And I'm- - Obsessed.

- You look fab.

I love this, stay warm.

- I love that you're spotted.

We go outside for one second and you're a star.

Okay, one more time, remember the direction.

(upbeat music) Yes, okay, lemme get a couple on this little 35 and then, I promise I'll let you back inside, okay.

Ready?

That is chic, all right, we got it.

Thank you.

- Thanks, Sophie.

This was the best.

- Oh I'm glad.

I loved every minute.

- Loved every second.

- [Sophie] Let's go.

- Let's get it.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat theme music) (upbeat theme music continues)