© 2026 ABC News

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New York City Ballet (@nycballet) on Dec 1, 2019 at 9:20am PST

Charlotte, who was just 6 years old when Copeland became the first female African American principal at American Ballet Theater, recalled being inspired when she saw Copeland perform for the first time.

\"I saw her perform and she was just so inspiring and so beautiful,\" she told The New York Times. \"When I saw someone who looked like me on stage, I thought, 'That’s amazing.' She was representing me and all the people like me.\"

\"PHOTO:
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Six-year-old ballet dancer Charlotte Nebres prepares for auditioning as boys and girls ages 6 to 7 try out for The School of American Ballet Winter Term at the P.S. 124 Yung Wing school in New York, April 16, 2015.
>

Charlotte, whose mother’s family is from Trinidad while her father’s side of the family is from the Philippines, is becoming a trailblazer herself with the role of Marie.

For Charlotte’s mother, Danielle Nebres, the experience for her daughter is a meaningful one, because she was also a dancer growing up.

Nebres, who described Charlotte as quiet and artistic, said, \"You don’t know what people are seeing in your child, and they are definitely seeing something in her.\"

Although Charlotte is making waves being cast as Marie, the 11-year-old is just enjoying the moment and doing what she loves most: dancing.

\"It just feels like when I dance, I feel free and I feel empowered. I feel like I can do anything when I dance,\" she told the Times. \"It makes me happy, and I'm going to do what makes me happy. You don’t need to think about anything else.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/11-year-ballerina-dances-history-1st-black-lead/story?id=67438018","legacySlug":"/living/story/11-year-ballerina-dances-history-1st-black-lead-67438018","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"03:07","publishDate":"12-03-2019","updatedTime":"13:30","updatedDate":"12-03-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Charlotte Nebres, 11, plays Marie in New York City Ballet's \"George Balanchine's The Nutcracker,\" in New York, Nov. 16, 2019.","credit":"Heather Sten/The New York Times via Redux","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/charlotte-nebres-nyt-jt-191202_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/3/2019 03:07:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":67438018,"headline":"11-year-old breaks barriers in 'The Nutcracker'","mediaAssetTitle":"FIRST BLACK MARIE","description":"An 11-year-old girl is making history as the star of \"The Nutcracker.\"","duration":"6:08","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2018/10/181022_gma_breakfast_830_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["56964257","66986167","58660102"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"August 2, 2018","headline":"New York City Ballet's principal dancer on disrupting the world of dance","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/pink-tutus-tights-york-city-ballets-tiler-peck-56964257","id":56964257,"image":{"alt":"New York City Ballet's principal dancer on disrupting the world of dance","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/tiler-peck1-ht-ml-180801_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Matt Brown/Hulu","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"November 13, 2019","headline":"These dads are doing ballet with their daughters and we are here for it","section":"family","slug":"/video/66986167","id":66986167,"image":{"alt":"These dads are doing ballet with their daughters and we are here for it","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/191113_gma_digital_dancedad_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"October 22, 2018","headline":"Misty Copeland opens up about 'The Nutcracker' on 'GMA' ","section":"culture","slug":"/video/58660102","id":58660102,"image":{"alt":"Misty Copeland opens up about 'The Nutcracker' on 'GMA' ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/181022_gma_breakfast4_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"11-year-old breaks barriers in 'The Nutcracker'","description":"An 11-year-old girl is making history as the star of \"The Nutcracker.\"","duration":"6:08","uploadDate":"12-03-2019","publication":"12-03-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2018/10/181022_gma_breakfast_830_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2018/10/181022_gma_breakfast_830_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/11-year-ballerina-dances-history-1st-black-lead-67438018"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132880952","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132873763","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132844494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132840754","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132748964","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132636882","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132747869","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132738086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132714218","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132701634","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132706335","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132675442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132665875","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132628890","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132569874","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132567885","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"11-year-old breaks barriers in 'The Nutcracker'","pubTime":"22:07","pubDate":"12-02-2019","modTime":"08:30","modDate":"12-03-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":67438018,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"11-year-old breaks barriers in 'The Nutcracker'","mediaAssetTitle":"FIRST BLACK MARIE","videoId":67438018,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/11-year-ballerina-dances-history-1st-black-lead-67438018"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/67438018","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/67438018","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};