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Misty Copeland premieres Disney's "The Nutcracker and The Four Kingdoms". Copeland recently announced that she would shorten her season with the American Ballet Theater to deal with an unspecified family tragedy.
AP
Ballerina Misty Copeland in "The Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms".(Photo: REBECCA MILLER / DISNEY ENTERPRISES)
HOLLYWOOD – The nutcracker without ballet? You might as well have a Christmas without a tree.
Disney knew that the studio reorganized the classic holiday story for "Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms" (Friday in the theaters), modern tale of the young Clara (Mackenzie Foy) venturing into a parallel world of candies and snowy wonders. The film relying more on the history of the nineteenth century "The Nutcracker and the King of the mice" than on the ballet Tchaikovsky, a show was written for the famous dancer Misty Copeland, who s & # 39; went to London for four days to get a better idea.
"They kind of created this part for me," says Copeland, his sleek 5-foot-2 mount snuggled up on a sofa in front of where the film premiere is about to unfold. "It was like they did not have a ballet in this movie, people would say," What's going on? "
Shiver (Richard E. Grant), Fairy Sugar Plum (Keira Knightley) and Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez) give the field to Clara (Mackenzie Foy) in "Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms". (Photo: LAURIE SPARHAM / DISNEY ENTERPRISES)
Copeland's career is a marvel in itself. Now 36, she only started dancing at 13 and in 2015 she became the first African-American senior woman in the 75-year history of the American Ballet Theater. "She is the best in the world and therefore the biggest name in the world," said Lasse Hallström, director of "The Nutcracker". "And she's also the most gracious person I've ever seen move her body."
Misty Copeland plays the princess ballerina in "The Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms". (Photo: LAURIE SPARHAM / DISNEY ENTERPRISES)
The dancer has become an iconic figure both commercially (she is the face of Under Armor) and in pop culture (yes, it was she in Drake's ### "Nice for What" video). Nevertheless, the sale of the Metropolitan Scene at the Metropolitan Opera House has complications.
"It's very difficult for the dancers of most of the films on the sets, because I do not think that we really understand what we need in this space," said Copeland, who has ballerina dancer friends who played in the movies Black Swan and Red Sparrow. "I know what it's like to be on these platters as a dancer and you're treated a bit like everyone else, like an extra. They will come, say, at 2 o'clock in the morning and say, 'Get up, you have to go do your whipped! & # 39; "
She shakes her head. "We can not work this way, our body is our tool, and if it is not rested or warmed properly with enough time, we risk injuring ourselves or having a very bad product on the screen. . "
The Copeland team made Disney understand that, like all professional dancers, she began her day with a ballet class every morning, whether she was on the road for a book tour or playing "Swan Lake "at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Even Hallström left the decor "Nutcracker" with a new appreciation of Copeland's craft. "To be aware of the physical pain you're going through, the kind of warm-up you need for each shot, I had a lot of respect for the dancers, but it grew as I watched it in action, "he says.
More: Do you remember Renesmee in "Twilight"? Mackenzie Foy grew up and starred in "The Nutcracker"
Related: 10 burning questions about Disney's new movie "Nutcracker"
Today, Copeland chuckles on the luxury of his Hollywood glam team before the premiere of "The Nutcracker". For example, before the opening night at ballet in New York, she goes from the dance floor to the rehearsal room to become a tiny changing room – and this is followed by her performance, 39, another dress and dinner with donors.
"It's not glamorous. Like at all. It's glamorous, "she says with a laugh, brushing a Zen picture of the spacious hotel room where her hairstyle and make-up will arrive soon.
You have never seen 'The Nutcracker'. like that.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI
These days, Copeland is comfortable. Trust, she says, is what has changed in her thirties.
"It's nice to feel that I do not have to try to be someone that I'm not. And when you get older, you're so tired that you do not care, "she says. His favorite Christmas projects? By leaving in a warm place with her husband "and going to a place where I can sleep three days in a row before starting the holidays".
Copeland has been married to Olu Evans' lawyer for two years, but the couple has been together since the age of 21. She did not have the jitters before her performances, but he. "He's so nervous that it's not nice for him to look at me. It's like panicking all the time, "she says with a smile.
She hopes that the new "Nutcracker" will help push diversity into ballet even further. "I think in the future, they'll just say," That's what a ballerina looks like. Instead of "Oh, my God, it's a black ballerina in this movie!" This gives children the opportunity to dream. "
Do not leave the theater before the hour: a bonus ballet awaits you. In the closing credits, "there is another dance sequence that is my favorite part of the film," she promises.
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