The theater for the New York City Ballet sits quiet and empty, with its endless rows of velvety red chairs and halos of golden light cast from a high-above chandelier. Even without the audience, the clapping and oohing and aahing, or the sound of a dramatic musical score, it's easy to imagine the magic of a performance. It's a feeling that ballerina India Bradley knows well, she tells me as we sit down to talk on a Monday in mid-January.
Bradley, 25, has been a member of the Corps de Ballet since August 2018. But this past December, she made history starring in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker as the first Black dancer cast as a Dewdrop, a role where she glides and pirouettes across the stage in a whimsical costume and tiara.
