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Patricia Delgado: Welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Patricia Delgado

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where women share

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Emily Tisch Sussman: bold career moves and personal turning points that changed everything.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I'm your host, Emily Tisch Sussman. Today's guest is someone

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I have known since we were thirteen years old at

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Emily Tisch Sussman: a performing art summer camp, and believe me, she made

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Emily Tisch Sussman: an impression from day one. We're sitting down with dancer, choreographer,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Juilliard faculty member Mom and the twenty twenty five Tony

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Emily Tisch Sussman: winner for Buena Vista Social Club, Patricia Delgado. Patricia danced for

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Emily Tisch Sussman: seventeen years with the Miami City Ballet and spent a

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Emily Tisch Sussman: decade as principal dancer. After a series of injuries, she

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Emily Tisch Sussman: surprised even herself and pivoted into a new art for choreography.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: She teamed up with her husband, Justin Peck to work

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Emily Tisch Sussman: on the West Side Story movie and to co choreograph

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Emily Tisch Sussman: the hit Broadway musical Buenavista Social Club, where she reconnected

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Emily Tisch Sussman: with her Cuban roots and won the Tony Award for

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Best Choreography. Patricia's story is about what happens when the

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Emily Tisch Sussman: body you trained for your whole life can't do the

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Emily Tisch Sussman: thing it was built for anymore, and the surprising, scary,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: beautiful question of what comes next when you follow your passion.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: This is Patricia Delgado and this is how she pivots

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Emily Tisch Sussman: what is your name?

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Patricia Delgado: In What do you Do? My name is Patricia. I

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Patricia Delgado: am an artist. I'm a former ballerina, I teach dance.

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Patricia Delgado: I am a choreographer, and I am a mom, a

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Patricia Delgado: Tony Award winning choreographer. Thank you still kind of processing

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Patricia Delgado: that one, but yes, yeah, all things were processing right

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Patricia Delgado: for conversations, totally, totally okay. So you don't do a

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Patricia Delgado: lot of interviews like this, do you? I don't. Why not? Well,

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Patricia Delgado: I would say I'm very honored to be invited into

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Patricia Delgado: your world here. I have not been asked to do

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Patricia Delgado: too many. And the one that I did recently was

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Patricia Delgado: actually it was a request to do it in Spanish,

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Patricia Delgado: and I said yes, and I was like I could,

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Patricia Delgado: I could handle it. And then as we started, I

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Patricia Delgado: think the interviewer realized like, oh, she has a lot

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Patricia Delgado: to say, and at the same time it's not coming

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Patricia Delgado: naturally in Spanish, and she changed, so we have like

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Patricia Delgado: in both and I actually really enjoyed because you're not

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Patricia Delgado: naturally in like a retrospective of your process, and I

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Patricia Delgado: was like, after I finished, I was like, oh, I

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Patricia Delgado: want to do more of these, but not in Spanish.

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Patricia Delgado: But yeah, this is one of my first.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I'm so honored and now that the world hears it,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: there will be many Oh thank you.

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Patricia Delgado: So we're going to go all the way back. Tell

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Patricia Delgado: us about Little Patricia. I was born and raised in Miami, Florida.

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Patricia Delgado: My parents came over from Cuba in the late fifties.

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Patricia Delgado: Both sides have different version of it, but grew up

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Patricia Delgado: with immigrant parents and immersed in what it was to

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Patricia Delgado: be Cuban in Miami, and that was not like a

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Patricia Delgado: special thing, you know, or many Cubans in Miami along

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Patricia Delgado: those lines. Early on, my parents worked a lot. They

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Patricia Delgado: allowed for me to have a lot of time with

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Patricia Delgado: my grandparents, I think out of necessity, but out of

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Patricia Delgado: also just this desire to know my roots. And my

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Patricia Delgado: grandparents came over in their thirties and like started from scratch,

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Patricia Delgado: So I think it was very important for my parents

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Patricia Delgado: to understand that world, and I process it as a

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Patricia Delgado: young kid, would write what that meant. When I was five,

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Patricia Delgado: I remember my grandmother's like, well, we need to put

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Patricia Delgado: the girls, which me and my sister who's two years

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Patricia Delgado: younger than me, Janette, need to put them in ballet.

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Patricia Delgado: And my mom's like, I work, if you find it

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Patricia Delgado: and you can take them, go for it. She found

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Patricia Delgado: like a Cuban ballet teacher, just like you know, minutes

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Patricia Delgado: from my house. And it was this like strip mall

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Patricia Delgado: by a rail road track, like the very small studio

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Patricia Delgado: with ballet teacher who had a stick. I like to

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Patricia Delgado: say she used it to like mark the time in

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Patricia Delgado: the floor, but you know there were also some using

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Patricia Delgado: it as a gesture of her finger to shape our bodies.

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Patricia Delgado: It seems like so long ago that time. But she

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Patricia Delgado: also had a record player to play music. And I

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Patricia Delgado: can remember like the smell of the studio. It was

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Patricia Delgado: like immediate love at first feel for me. My sister

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Patricia Delgado: had like a very different journey. She was like, oh,

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Patricia Delgado: this is too much, too much discipline, too many rules,

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Patricia Delgado: Like I don't like this, but there was something about it.

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Patricia Delgado: I was smitten with ballet from like the very beginning.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: What was it about it that drew you to it?

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Emily Tisch Sussman: And I didn't know that about your sister that she

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Emily Tisch Sussman: kind of rejected it at first.

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Patricia Delgado: You know, I think it was the rules. There were boundaries,

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Patricia Delgado: there was clear steps to music, and I didn't have

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Patricia Delgado: like a preconceived idea of like what bali was and

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Patricia Delgado: the ideal of a professional life, and like to me,

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Patricia Delgado: it was really raw. It was like music steps and

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Patricia Delgado: codified process is like, oh, there's like the ABC's and

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Patricia Delgado: there's the abcs of dance and this is what it is.

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Patricia Delgado: And it just made sense in my body. This is

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Patricia Delgado: something that I've processed now older. But there was an

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Patricia Delgado: elderly Cuban woman teaching me ballet and it wasn't what

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Patricia Delgado: I was experiencing for my teachers at school.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Right.

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Patricia Delgado: It was like a very different world of art and

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Patricia Delgado: my roots and just something that made sense in my blood.

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Patricia Delgado: Like I don't have cerebral memory of it. It just

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Patricia Delgado: like it made sense to me emotionally. I think when

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Patricia Delgado: it comes to my sister, I think she was three

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Patricia Delgado: when she started, so rules and you know, holding the

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Patricia Delgado: bar and then waiting and then you have to shurn

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Patricia Delgado: to the other side and do the same thing on there.

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Patricia Delgado: You know, It's like I don't think any of that

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Patricia Delgado: suited her three year old self. But then as the

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Patricia Delgado: story goes, she would watch End of the Year performance,

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Patricia Delgado: watch me perform, and then say, oh, I want to

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Patricia Delgado: do it, and like kind of had this pink pong

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Patricia Delgado: experience until she was six years old, and she stuck

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Patricia Delgado: to it too. I don't think it was a professional

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Patricia Delgado: path for me at that time. Why not. I didn't know.

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Patricia Delgado: I didn't know about it. I think my first view

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Patricia Delgado: into even just like what it meant to be a

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Patricia Delgado: professional dancer, besides like watching Kelsey Kirklan and Brishna coffin

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Patricia Delgado: The Nutcracker, which was like a ritual on the weekends

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Patricia Delgado: on the TV. I'm a VHS player, but no one

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Patricia Delgado: told me like, oh, if you keep at it, you

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Patricia Delgado: could do that professionally. And it wasn't until the Miami

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Patricia Delgado: City Ballet was formed and they were doing The Nutcracker

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Patricia Delgado: at like the bigger theater in Miami, and I remember

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Patricia Delgado: my parents taking me and seeing like the snow scene

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Patricia Delgado: in particular. I was like, wait, those people they do,

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Patricia Delgado: this is beautiful, this is what they do. And then

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Patricia Delgado: I started asking questions, but I was maybe like in

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Patricia Delgado: fifth sixth grade, I was a lot older. And then

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Patricia Delgado: once I kind of planted that seed of asking around

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Patricia Delgado: that time, the Miami City Ballet Company was starting a

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Patricia Delgado: school from scratch, and my parents had read about it

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Patricia Delgado: in the Miami Herald, and we're like, well, if they're

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Patricia Delgado: into it, we should like see about a more professional path.

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Patricia Delgado: And at the same time they knew nothing about it,

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Patricia Delgado: you know. I think that was also a soul social

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Patricia Delgado: time where you're like defining yourself by you know, your

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Patricia Delgado: friends at ballet, your friends at school. And I didn't

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Patricia Delgado: want to go to a different school necessarily for ballet,

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Patricia Delgado: because I didn't want to leave my friends and my

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Patricia Delgado: original teachers who like taught me everything and kudos and

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Patricia Delgado: looking back to my parents who were like, well, it's

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Patricia Delgado: just a lot of our time, and if this is

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Patricia Delgado: something that they want to pursue, let's see what else

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Patricia Delgado: there is to learn. Okay. So South Beach has this

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Patricia Delgado: like main road which now has like you know, all

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Patricia Delgado: the brand names, but back in the day, it was

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Patricia Delgado: just like real mom and pop and the studio space

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Patricia Delgado: was this beautiful, like pedestrian friendly walkway where the windows

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Patricia Delgado: you could like see in and out of the studio.

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Patricia Delgado: Now it's a Victoria secret, but at the time, my

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Patricia Delgado: memory was finishing school, driving all the way to South

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Patricia Delgado: Beach and walking along Lincoln Road and watching the company

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Patricia Delgado: members rehearse before it was time for me to take

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Patricia Delgado: my ballet class. So I started to understand, like, this

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Patricia Delgado: is what happens once you graduate from my school. You

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Patricia Delgado: could join a company and I would watch them perform

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Patricia Delgado: on the weekend. So it was sort of like this

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Patricia Delgado: natural seed that was planted just from like watching them work.

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Patricia Delgado: And yet I didn't know that that's what I wanted

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Patricia Delgado: to do. And really, I just when you don't have

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Patricia Delgado: it around you, Like it's not like living in New

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Patricia Delgado: York City where you're going and you're surrounded by all

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Patricia Delgado: these artists, right, it was just not around us in Miami.

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Patricia Delgado: Was there something else that you thought you wanted to do?

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Patricia Delgado: School I loved, like learning, I want to go to college.

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Patricia Delgado: This story I always heard from my mom was like

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Patricia Delgado: she got into Harvard and she wanted to go and

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Patricia Delgado: pursue her dreams. And my grandparents were like, you can't.

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Patricia Delgado: You have to stay close to home. You have to

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Patricia Delgado: help us. You know. My mom was a psychologist, my

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Patricia Delgado: dad was a teacher. It was like both of those

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Patricia Delgado: interest me. Maybe I'll do that. I'd never wanted to

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Patricia Delgado: say bye to dance right there was just kind of

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Patricia Delgado: this desire for balance and wanting to do everything.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Patricia was just starting to understand the concept that dance

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Emily Tisch Sussman: could be a real career option for her, so she

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Emily Tisch Sussman: explored her passion for performance through summer programs. That's where

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Emily Tisch Sussman: we first met at Belvoir Terraces and where Patricia really

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Emily Tisch Sussman: got in touch with the power of theater.

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Patricia Delgado: Around high school, I was able to go away for

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Patricia Delgado: summer programs and I went to well where we met.

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Patricia Delgado: I went to Belvore terrast which was kind of this

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Patricia Delgado: eye opening experience more so in like what it's like

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Patricia Delgado: to even be in the woods and what it's like

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Patricia Delgado: to do musical theater.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: We met at a girl's performing arts camp that had

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Emily Tisch Sussman: a pretty intensive dance program as far as like all

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Emily Tisch Sussman: the arts, which clearly was not what I was doing,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and even the theater that I was doing, I was

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Emily Tisch Sussman: not very good at what loved. There were girls that

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Emily Tisch Sussman: came every year from Miami City because the founder of

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Emily Tisch Sussman: the Miami City company, I guess taught at our camp

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and his daughter went definitely, but I remember that most

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Emily Tisch Sussman: of the girls that came from Miami City Ballet were

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Emily Tisch Sussman: either super serious and like couldn't take the other classes

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and like couldn't kind of like integrate socially, or they

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Emily Tisch Sussman: would come and like wile out and like, oh my god,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: there's other things that I can do. And I felt

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Emily Tisch Sussman: like when you and your sister came, you like exploded

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Emily Tisch Sussman: all of our brains into understanding a level of excellence

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Emily Tisch Sussman: that we had never seen before. You were such beautiful

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Emily Tisch Sussman: dancers and beautiful people like you had somehow balanced that

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Emily Tisch Sussman: where you were unbelievably talented and had incredible discipline that

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Emily Tisch Sussman: we all learned from, and you were still interesting, well

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Emily Tisch Sussman: rounded people.

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Patricia Delgado: Thank you getting emotional. That's very beautiful. I didn't know

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Patricia Delgado: you felt to keep it cool, no, you see, I

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Patricia Delgado: thank you for saying that. I do feel like when

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Patricia Delgado: we were able to step out of the bubble that

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Patricia Delgado: we were in Miami and kind of like do what

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Patricia Delgado: we do because we were able to go there because

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Patricia Delgado: of the scholarship that we were given to dance. I

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Patricia Delgado: just remember being inspired by the amount of things that

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Patricia Delgado: one could do in the arts, like theater or jewelry making,

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Patricia Delgado: or I rer to voice lessons. When I realized I

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Patricia Delgado: couldn't I couldn't sing, but I was like I'm learning,

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Patricia Delgado: and there's a teacher that wants to teach me, and

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Patricia Delgado: the community and like the camp that like sisterhood and

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Patricia Delgado: learning from older campers and being inspired by them. And

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Patricia Delgado: I do remember feeling like my heart was like burst

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Patricia Delgado: open with like I belong right as an artist and

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Patricia Delgado: I belong in the world to like thrive off of life.

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Patricia Delgado: Even so much so that when they told me, like

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Patricia Delgado: you should try and focus on ballet and like go

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Patricia Delgado: to New York, I didn't want to. I wanted to

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Patricia Delgado: go back to camp, you know. And now full circle,

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Patricia Delgado: like thinking about what I'm doing now in theater, and

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Patricia Delgado: I know that my love for theater and my love

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Patricia Delgado: for people and like making things. I first felt that

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Patricia Delgado: at camp and just like meeting people from everywhere, like

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Patricia Delgado: I was in such a Miami bubble. I remember admiring

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Patricia Delgado: you and just being like, how is she so cool?

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Patricia Delgado: I wanted to be you. You had this like really

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Patricia Delgado: like confident Aura. I did think I projected that.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I think there was.

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Patricia Delgado: More going on somewhere deep with you, right, And so

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Patricia Delgado: there was this like inspiring womanhood that started there.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I clearly it wasn't the same for me. I did

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Emily Tisch Sussman: not have a talent and discovered that there, but I

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Emily Tisch Sussman: still loved it. The director of the camp always said, like,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: you know, she may not be creating the professional artists

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Emily Tisch Sussman: out of everyone that goes there. She'll be creating a

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Emily Tisch Sussman: generation of people who love the arts and can work

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Emily Tisch Sussman: in a variety of ways, and patrons of the arts

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and people that bring that to other disciplines. And I

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Emily Tisch Sussman: do think that's true, Like just to be exposed to

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Emily Tisch Sussman: the arts, so many arts.

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Patricia Delgado: Yeah, I even now teaching and dabbling on all the

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Patricia Delgado: different things that I've gotten to do. I do feel

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Patricia Delgado: that that there are certain people that were given like

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Patricia Delgado: almost an appreciation for the arts. And she did create

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Patricia Delgado: this sort of like world where you're going to understand

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Patricia Delgado: and appreciate from a young age, like the value of

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Patricia Delgado: what it means to do theater, do theater, backstage, go

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Patricia Delgado: to the theater right, Like you're you're kind of immersed

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Patricia Delgado: in this like utopian world in the woods. Yeah. Do

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Patricia Delgado: you remember which musicals you were in?

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Oh?

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Patricia Delgado: Yes, which ones? I was in Oklahoma? And I say,

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Patricia Delgado: Will Parker, Oh you were to lead. I don't think

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Patricia Delgado: I was a boy. Can I love that? How did

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Patricia Delgado: we know? Do you remember the hair you wear French braid.

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Patricia Delgado: Oh I did wear a French braid and a hat.

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Patricia Delgado: So funny you don't. I don't remember that, but yeah,

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Patricia Delgado: I do remember. I'm some really good friends with my

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Patricia Delgado: ado Annie in that musical Zoe's Zion. We laugh about

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Patricia Delgado: it all the time. But my memory of doing a

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Patricia Delgado: musical at that time was like, you had to audition

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Patricia Delgado: and I didn't know how to sing. I didn't know

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Patricia Delgado: how to use my voice, but like I knew how

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Patricia Delgado: to tell a story. I had no idea what I

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Patricia Delgado: was doing. And I sometimes think when you don't know

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Patricia Delgado: what you're doing, you're your most raw self, right, and

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Patricia Delgado: you have no judgment on you because you don't have

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Patricia Delgado: preconceived ideas of it. Yeah, I like saying like so

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Patricia Delgado: confidently and I got this part. And I just remember

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Patricia Delgado: thinking like, so, we're going to learn how to do

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Patricia Delgado: this musical and then our campers, our peers are going

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Patricia Delgado: to come and watch us, which is like so different

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Patricia Delgado: than like your parents coming to watch you. And that

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Patricia Delgado: was very formative because in times post that, when I

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Patricia Delgado: would think about nerves or butterflies or like who am

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Patricia Delgado: I performing for? I was like just remember that feeling

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Patricia Delgado: of like performing for your peers, performing for people who

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Patricia Delgado: are also going to perform for you when it's their turn.

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Patricia Delgado: So it's like an exchange that feels like very viscer

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Patricia Delgado: and it's not one direction the performance. It's like circular.

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Patricia Delgado: And I share that now often with like students and

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Patricia Delgado: castmates or you know, when I'm choreographing and you can

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Patricia Delgado: see that there's always one or two people that are

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Patricia Delgado: like awesome in process and then we're going to perform.

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Patricia Delgado: We're gonna start performing for an audience and they see

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Patricia Delgado: es or they're like, you know, they're nervous. I'm just saying.

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Patricia Delgado: They try to share this like it's circular, like it's

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Patricia Delgado: coming back to you. That's so interesting.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: That's almost like like the psychology like group therapy, where

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Emily Tisch Sussman: like if I'm vulnerable for you, then you're vulnerable for me,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and like I want I want to be more vulnerable

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Emily Tisch Sussman: to match it.

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Patricia Delgado: Yeah. Well, and how many times now as patrons and

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Patricia Delgado: we go to see a show and you don't walk

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Patricia Delgado: in like arms cross like sitting back judging, Like that's

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Patricia Delgado: what people need when they go to the theater, like

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Patricia Delgado: they they want to be invited in, right, So yeah, yeah,

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Patricia Delgado: it's like this back and forth. That has helped me.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I think that theaters like moving in that direction where

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Emily Tisch Sussman: like we're not just sitting back and we're patrons, like

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Emily Tisch Sussman: we are experience something.

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Patricia Delgado: Together, which is the power of theater. That is the theater.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: This dancing at camp became like the white whale for me,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: like I was so bad. I actually they might have

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Emily Tisch Sussman: already abandoned danced by the time you came as a

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Emily Tisch Sussman: camper because I grew so fast. I have been the

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Emily Tisch Sussman: same size since I was twelve years old. So I

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Emily Tisch Sussman: was an enormous twelve year old who looked like an adult.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: My body could not keep up with whatever was happening

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Emily Tisch Sussman: in dance class. So I just opted out real fast.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: And then when I went back as a counselor, I

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Emily Tisch Sussman: was the head counselor, and I said, I'm always going

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Emily Tisch Sussman: to be in a dance class. It was like the

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Emily Tisch Sussman: thing that I was doing to really push myself. So

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I was in the class with like eleven year old girls.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Oh my god, again, I'm now like an enormous twenty

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Emily Tisch Sussman: year old and I was nervous, and the girls in

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Emily Tisch Sussman: my bunk had to help drill me and I would

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Emily Tisch Sussman: do the performance with them.

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Patricia Delgado: I love this. Really.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: I was trying and I did this for years, and

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Emily Tisch Sussman: the director of the camp said to me, she goes Emily.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: For the girls to see you dance the way that

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Emily Tisch Sussman: you dance and not be embarrassed, it's a gift.

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Patricia Delgado: It's a gift for them. And I was like, I

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Patricia Delgado: don't now reconsider whether I continue to do dancing. I

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Patricia Delgado: find dancing to be such an outlet for humans, like

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Patricia Delgado: the people walking on the street. If you have headphones on,

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Patricia Delgado: there's like a different bounce, right, And when does that

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Patricia Delgado: get taken from us? Right? You know, you couldn't keep

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Patricia Delgado: up when you were twelve in and years so tall?

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Patricia Delgado: Like that is actually like a physical thing. It is

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Patricia Delgado: such a hard thing. Dance is a very hard thing.

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Patricia Delgado: It's like science. It's training all sorts of things that

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Patricia Delgado: are not artistic, right, It's all the sides of the

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Patricia Delgado: brain that need to like orient physically where we are

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Patricia Delgado: in space. Right. But there's also the kind of dance

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Patricia Delgado: it's just like fun and a release. It should never

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Patricia Delgado: have been something that you couldn't do, right. So I'm

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Patricia Delgado: so glad that you went back and you figured it out.

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Patricia Delgado: I love it. I believe in it so much. It

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Patricia Delgado: has so much power.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: That is a real positive that having kids has brought

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Emily Tisch Sussman: back into my life, which I'm actually good what we're

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Emily Tisch Sussman: talk about because I feel like I only speak negatively

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Emily Tisch Sussman: about my kids in this show because having kids was

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Emily Tisch Sussman: so hard for me and I didn't feel connected to

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Emily Tisch Sussman: them when they were babies. But I do feel that,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: like dance in particular, and just like unbridled joy in general,

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Emily Tisch Sussman: is something that I was able to bring back into

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Emily Tisch Sussman: my life by having kids. It's like, oh, we can

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Emily Tisch Sussman: just have a dance party, Like we can just go

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Emily Tisch Sussman: nuts and just feel this music in our core and

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Emily Tisch Sussman: bring joy to ourselves.

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Patricia Delgado: So that that has been a real little positive for me. Yeah,

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Patricia Delgado: I love that you're sharing that because I do feel

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Patricia Delgado: like I'm learning a lot just from watching our daughter,

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Patricia Delgado: who's going to be five on Friday. Kids they have

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Patricia Delgado: no inhibitions and so to like be able to sit

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Patricia Delgado: back and just absorb like whatever that is, Like when

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Patricia Delgado: did that leave us? Like I'm so fascinated by that,

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Patricia Delgado: and how can we bring it back, like more positive

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Patricia Delgado: talk about kids. I know I need to get back

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Patricia Delgado: in a better about that in this show. I love it.

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Patricia Delgado: I love it.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: Patricia started doing ballet intensives at School of American Ballet

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Emily Tisch Sussman: and the American Ballet Theater in New York City, which

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Emily Tisch Sussman: was terrifying to her. We'll hear about how difficult and

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Emily Tisch Sussman: transformative that experience was.

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Patricia Delgado: Just after the break, my first night at the dorms,

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Patricia Delgado: which were different than bunks, right, It's like really different

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Patricia Delgado: from camp. And it was all these really young, beautifully

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Patricia Delgado: bodied naturally meant to do this, bodies stretching, extending their foot,

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Patricia Delgado: like pointing their foot. I knew, I knew that I

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Patricia Delgado: have a love for ballet, but I didn't have the

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Patricia Delgado: ideal look specifically my feet and my achilles and just

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Patricia Delgado: like the shape. And that was why my teachers were like,

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Patricia Delgado: you need to go to SAB you need to work

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Patricia Delgado: on that part. But when I sat there in the

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Patricia Delgado: dorm and everyone was just like extending their foot like

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Patricia Delgado: I just was like please, like you know that like

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Patricia Delgado: that movie, were just like, don't come to me. It

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Patricia Delgado: can't be my turn to point my feet like I

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Patricia Delgado: did that in the audition. I don't want to do

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Patricia Delgado: that with my friends, like I will cry about it.

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Patricia Delgado: It was such a hard first night and I think

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Patricia Delgado: I made a joke. Probably I was like you don't

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Patricia Delgado: want to see mine. You know, there are certain molds

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Patricia Delgado: we're supposed to fit into, and when we're trying so

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Patricia Delgado: hard because we love this form, right, I love ballet,

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Patricia Delgado: and we're trying so hard to do it in the

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Patricia Delgado: way that maybe our body doesn't go there, maybe our makeup,

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Patricia Delgado: maybe our backgrounds, like whatever it is, whatever the challenge is,

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Patricia Delgado: like we were going to make it happen. Now I

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Patricia Delgado: can look back and be like I still did it,

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Patricia Delgado: and at the same time, I still carry the weight

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Patricia Delgado: of what that mold was and that I didn't have

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Patricia Delgado: that and where I tried to excel in other ways,

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Patricia Delgado: right or like make up for it. And also how

404
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Patricia Delgado: much did I push which created injuries which I had

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Patricia Delgado: two surgeries on each ankle, Like the natural way that

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Patricia Delgado: they were shaped was just not gonna sustain like a long,

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Patricia Delgado: lengthy career without these hiccups. Right. The thing I learned

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Patricia Delgado: that summer, first of all, was getting to be in

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Patricia Delgado: New York City, which I fell in love with, like immediately,

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Patricia Delgado: and like going to Broadway shows, like they took us

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Patricia Delgado: to see Rent, That's something they took us to see

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Patricia Delgado: The Lion King. We went to see New York City

413
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Patricia Delgado: Balley Dance in Saratoga. We went to see ABT Dance

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Patricia Delgado: at the Met. Like the exposure to the quality of

415
00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,000
Patricia Delgado: ballet and art and musical theater and theater in general

416
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,080
Patricia Delgado: at the level that it is in New York. I

417
00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,120
Patricia Delgado: was like so pushed and so inspired, and I knew

418
00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,840
Patricia Delgado: that what I was seeing in Miami was not what

419
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,159
Patricia Delgado: I was seeing in New York at the time, I

420
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,600
Patricia Delgado: think my solution was, this is my place of inspiration.

421
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:16,439
Patricia Delgado: I have to come here, I have to get pushed,

422
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,040
Patricia Delgado: but I'm not going to thrive in this environment. I

423
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,679
Patricia Delgado: need to go dance in Mimced Ballet. Whether it was

424
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,879
Patricia Delgado: because the company was smaller and it was being built,

425
00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,240
Patricia Delgado: I was part of something that was on a journey

426
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,280
Patricia Delgado: of growth versus like these major institutions that have legacy.

427
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,800
Patricia Delgado: I was able to know then that if I was

428
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:35,359
Patricia Delgado: going to do this, I needed to do it in

429
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,600
Patricia Delgado: an environment that felt nurturing, that was smaller. Big fish

430
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,040
Patricia Delgado: in the small pond was like where I knew I

431
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,119
Patricia Delgado: needed to be. And I think a lot of that

432
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,159
Patricia Delgado: also was just my family and my friends that always

433
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,520
Patricia Delgado: kept me balanced and wanted to make sure that there

434
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,720
Patricia Delgado: was my life as an artist and also my grounding life.

435
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,720
Patricia Delgado: So it was very eye opening spending summers here and

436
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:56,919
Patricia Delgado: I loved it, but I knew I always needed to

437
00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:57,399
Patricia Delgado: go back.

438
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:02,800
Emily Tisch Sussman: I mean, ballet has a reputation is ultra competitive, ultra cutthroat.

439
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,640
Emily Tisch Sussman: Was that something that you internalized? How were you able

440
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,119
Emily Tisch Sussman: to move through that? To me, it feels like a

441
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: lot of self judgment. There's that in every industry, the

442
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,720
Emily Tisch Sussman: really really good ones who are like not so nice

443
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,520
Emily Tisch Sussman: or getting your head, and even teachers that sometimes like

444
00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,000
Emily Tisch Sussman: say things that are something you have to like do,

445
00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:21,680
Emily Tisch Sussman: here's a therapy to get over right.

446
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,640
Patricia Delgado: You know. I didn't feel it personally, but you do

447
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,920
Patricia Delgado: normalize like someone making a comment about your body being

448
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,320
Patricia Delgado: too big, or you're too short, or your legs are

449
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,640
Patricia Delgado: too muscular. Like those sorts of comments are not red

450
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:36,920
Patricia Delgado: flags while I was growing up. They're just like this

451
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:38,960
Patricia Delgado: is how it is here, or like she doesn't have

452
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,560
Patricia Delgado: the body, but she's really good at it. So you're like, okay,

453
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,439
Patricia Delgado: so I'm good, but I don't have the body. You know,

454
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,480
Patricia Delgado: It's like how do you navigate that? You just have

455
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,440
Patricia Delgado: to focus on like what, I really love it, so

456
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,600
Patricia Delgado: I'm going to keep trying. But that's a lot of

457
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,760
Patricia Delgado: emotional psychological burdens your own self criticism. I think for

458
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:55,959
Patricia Delgado: me that was I think the hardest, just like the

459
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:58,440
Patricia Delgado: fact that you're in front of a mirror all the time.

460
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:00,920
Patricia Delgado: I think for me, like amaze, your growth happened once

461
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,160
Patricia Delgado: I joined the company, and it was performing more than

462
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,359
Patricia Delgado: being in the studio perfecting right, because there's no miror

463
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,360
Patricia Delgado: in a performance and you are in this like rigorous

464
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,960
Patricia Delgado: performance schedule where you're just out of your judgment brain

465
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,840
Patricia Delgado: and out of your perfection brain and just like in

466
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,040
Patricia Delgado: the true like meditative state of being in real time,

467
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,680
Patricia Delgado: and it's the most present you can feel. And that

468
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,960
Patricia Delgado: is what made me feel like I can push past

469
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,000
Patricia Delgado: all those comments and all those things do compartmentalize to

470
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,919
Patricia Delgado: survive it. I glad you brought up ABT because you

471
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,800
Patricia Delgado: have had Misty on your past. So Misty and I

472
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,200
Patricia Delgado: spent our first summer in New York at ABT Summer program,

473
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,719
Patricia Delgado: and we like gravitated to each other in the way

474
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,679
Patricia Delgado: that I think we see this form as not a

475
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:50,400
Patricia Delgado: cutthroat form. We feel inspired by those around us. We

476
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,840
Patricia Delgado: like to encourage and hold up those around us. And

477
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,200
Patricia Delgado: I didn't know the path she would have I didn't

478
00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:57,800
Patricia Delgado: know the path I would have, but I know that

479
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,919
Patricia Delgado: why we like bonded that summer was because we weren't

480
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,800
Patricia Delgado: in it to like get ahead or enjoy other people's

481
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,439
Patricia Delgado: not getting it. We were in it because we just

482
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,959
Patricia Delgado: truly loved it and we felt inspired whether we were

483
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,000
Patricia Delgado: doing it or watching others do it. And we still

484
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,399
Patricia Delgado: remain like really close friends. Our kids are at the

485
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,040
Patricia Delgado: same school. Just I adore her and I couldn't be

486
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,320
Patricia Delgado: more inspired by her. But I do feel like you

487
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,159
Patricia Delgado: find your people right, You find those that are gonna

488
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,120
Patricia Delgado: support you and have that like minded pursuit.

489
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,840
Emily Tisch Sussman: You have always been that way, and I felt that

490
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,399
Emily Tisch Sussman: when I met her, like, I think this is real. Actually,

491
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,840
Emily Tisch Sussman: when I interviewed her is when she told me that

492
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,200
Emily Tisch Sussman: you two are friends, I like that makes so much sense. Actually,

493
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,159
Emily Tisch Sussman: like that you guys would find each other and you

494
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,000
Emily Tisch Sussman: both had to push through an art form that wasn't

495
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,399
Emily Tisch Sussman: necessarily ready for you. Do you think that's part of

496
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:46,840
Emily Tisch Sussman: why you had to go back to Miami.

497
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:49,040
Patricia Delgado: I really don't think I would have made it here.

498
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,639
Patricia Delgado: I think I know my capabilities, and I know I

499
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,760
Patricia Delgado: was meant to push that company in the beautiful growth

500
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,439
Patricia Delgado: and direction that it went in that I'm very proud of,

501
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:01,480
Patricia Delgado: and I knew I was not supposed to move to

502
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,160
Patricia Delgado: New York till I was done with that. That's so interesting.

503
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,760
Emily Tisch Sussman: Yeah, when you joined the company, which is wild for

504
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,919
Emily Tisch Sussman: two years through high school, did your goals change at

505
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:12,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: that point where you're like, oh, okay, I'm going to

506
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,040
Emily Tisch Sussman: be with this company, I'm going to rise up the ranks,

507
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,040
Emily Tisch Sussman: and how did it measure up against what your expectation was.

508
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,360
Patricia Delgado: I love that question. I wasn't that like a type

509
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,040
Patricia Delgado: that I was like, these are my goals? Is my list?

510
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,679
Patricia Delgado: I felt like I'd made a big choice. I was like,

511
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,760
Patricia Delgado: if I have to choose between going to college and this,

512
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,399
Patricia Delgado: I will choose this. And I think that that was like,

513
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,360
Patricia Delgado: all of a sudden, a fork in the road, right,

514
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,760
Patricia Delgado: I had to decide. I was in a very rigorous

515
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,120
Patricia Delgado: French program, so I was like, do I continue down

516
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,439
Patricia Delgado: this path studying to take these exams and go to

517
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,440
Patricia Delgado: college or do I dance? And at the time, Mi

518
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,119
Patricia Delgado: my Cea Vallet was still growing and they needed dancers

519
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,320
Patricia Delgado: and they didn't have, you know, a second company or

520
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,520
Patricia Delgado: a school that was necessary a feeder program yet, so

521
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:54,119
Patricia Delgado: I was kind of like a guinea pig, and I

522
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,359
Patricia Delgado: danced with them professionally my junior and senior year of

523
00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,440
Patricia Delgado: high school. And I say professionally, but I wasn't getting paid.

524
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,800
Patricia Delgado: It was like I looked at it as like an internship,

525
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,600
Patricia Delgado: and I remember the company members saying to me, like,

526
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:05,919
Patricia Delgado: you need to be getting paid. I was like, what

527
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,520
Patricia Delgado: do you mean, I get to dance with you guys

528
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:09,320
Patricia Delgado: like that? You know, was not a that was not

529
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,560
Patricia Delgado: a requirement at the time. And so then that kind

530
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,200
Patricia Delgado: of like was this natural progression into joining the company,

531
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,960
Patricia Delgado: and I have a really like fortunate path. Everything kind

532
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,080
Patricia Delgado: of just like landed for me. I was like, I'm

533
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,800
Patricia Delgado: not going to go to school, I'm going to commit

534
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,720
Patricia Delgado: to this and I'm going to go all in. And

535
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,119
Patricia Delgado: I remember not having to juggle homework and papers and

536
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,719
Patricia Delgado: tests and just being able to like dive into just

537
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,240
Patricia Delgado: this one thing made me so happy and at the

538
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:41,000
Patricia Delgado: same time, I was so exhausted. The first year, I

539
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,040
Patricia Delgado: danced more, I think than I had ever danced, and

540
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,480
Patricia Delgado: I ever did dance. It was just like one of

541
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,679
Patricia Delgado: those like powerful years where we got a lot of

542
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,600
Patricia Delgado: new ballets that a lot of core members were a

543
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,680
Patricia Delgado: part of, and a lot of great balancing work and

544
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,119
Patricia Delgado: a lot of great Drome Robbins works, and I was

545
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,480
Patricia Delgado: challenged and exhausted, and I think that exhaustion like made

546
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,159
Patricia Delgado: me want it more. And I also was able to

547
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:04,119
Patricia Delgado: you know, I felt very at home there, as like

548
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,040
Patricia Delgado: a defender of what Miami City Ballet stood for, which

549
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,280
Patricia Delgado: was work your hardest, try to be the best dancer

550
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,520
Patricia Delgado: you could possibly be, but also be human. Let's like

551
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,159
Patricia Delgado: live our life, let's socialize its have like gatherings. Like

552
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,320
Patricia Delgado: it was really like this like Circus Troop. We were

553
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,600
Patricia Delgado: just constantly dancing and together. And I would have people

554
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,200
Patricia Delgado: my friends would come from New York, right, They're like, oh,

555
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,159
Patricia Delgado: we didn't get into New York City Ballet, so I

556
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,160
Patricia Delgado: guess we'll go to Miami. It would be my life

557
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,119
Patricia Delgado: goal to just be like, okay, but you didn't just

558
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,000
Patricia Delgado: get into Miami, Like Miami's great, Like let's let's make

559
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,080
Patricia Delgado: it the best it can be, you know. So I

560
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:39,280
Patricia Delgado: felt like I was like defending it a little bit.

561
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,400
Patricia Delgado: And also at every point of my career, like whether

562
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:45,320
Patricia Delgado: I was in the core or even as a soloist,

563
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,199
Patricia Delgado: as I got promoted, I was never like I want

564
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,080
Patricia Delgado: to be a principal here. It was always like I

565
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:53,080
Patricia Delgado: wanted to do the soloist part because I loved it,

566
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,280
Patricia Delgado: and I wanted to do the principal part because I

567
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,239
Patricia Delgado: loved it. I love watching my idols do them. So

568
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:00,879
Patricia Delgado: as I work my way up, there moments where I

569
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,120
Patricia Delgado: was like, Wow, well we don't really do the classical

570
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,680
Patricia Delgado: ballets here, like Giselle and Romeo and Julia and Coppellia.

571
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,199
Patricia Delgado: I really want to do them, so maybe I'll have

572
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,920
Patricia Delgado: to leave one day. And then the company started doing

573
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,400
Patricia Delgado: these full length narrative works, and then it was like, okay,

574
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,920
Patricia Delgado: well we do all these master works and Twila Tharp

575
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,359
Patricia Delgado: and Paul Taylor and I love this mixed rep but like,

576
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:22,280
Patricia Delgado: I want to work with a choreographer. I had never

577
00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,600
Patricia Delgado: worked with a choreographer until I was in my late

578
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,480
Patricia Delgado: twenties early thirties. It was something that when I joined

579
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,800
Patricia Delgado: the company there was no resident choreographer, so it wasn't

580
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,760
Patricia Delgado: in the practice of creating work. We were always bringing

581
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,560
Patricia Delgado: older works back to life, and so I started to

582
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:38,280
Patricia Delgado: itch for that.

583
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,399
Emily Tisch Sussman: What does that mean to work with a choreographer? Like

584
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,400
Emily Tisch Sussman: for those of us who are not in dance.

585
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,800
Patricia Delgado: There are nineteenth century works like that we know as

586
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,560
Patricia Delgado: a classic like Small Lake. Those exist. They are either

587
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:55,080
Patricia Delgado: notated or there's videos. It's been passed down, right, So

588
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,919
Patricia Delgado: it's like constantly working with someone who figured out how

589
00:27:57,920 --> 00:27:59,879
Patricia Delgado: to do it in their own body and sharing with

590
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,760
Patricia Delgado: you how to do it in yours. There's a lot

591
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,840
Patricia Delgado: of psychological analysis to that because you're having to filter

592
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,920
Patricia Delgado: what someone else is showing you. You're having to filter

593
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,280
Patricia Delgado: what you see on a two dimensional screen, and then

594
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,879
Patricia Delgado: you also want to honor them and also make it

595
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,520
Patricia Delgado: your own. So that is like a lot that I

596
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,800
Patricia Delgado: navigated for a good chunk of my career, and getting

597
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,679
Patricia Delgado: to work with a choreographer means the living, breathing artist

598
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,040
Patricia Delgado: walks in and says, this is the music, this is

599
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,040
Patricia Delgado: my vision. You are my vessel. Let's make something. It's

600
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,000
Patricia Delgado: a huge shift in how you like wake up in

601
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:38,680
Patricia Delgado: the morning. You go, you wake up not with a

602
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,160
Patricia Delgado: preconcued idea of what you're trying to achieve, right, You

603
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,280
Patricia Delgado: wake up and you're like, what are they going to

604
00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,760
Patricia Delgado: throw at me today? Am I ready? It's like such

605
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,000
Patricia Delgado: a cool experience to understand that you're trying to make

606
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:53,840
Patricia Delgado: something interesting together. That didn't happen until like later in

607
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,920
Patricia Delgado: my career, and I thought I would have to leave again, yeah,

608
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,120
Patricia Delgado: to make that happen, and I didn't. That's when I'm

609
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,440
Patricia Delgado: at Justin. He was invited to choreograph something on the

610
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,640
Patricia Delgado: company that was actually injured at the time, and that

611
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,680
Patricia Delgado: was a very good time to be injured. I felt

612
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,800
Patricia Delgado: like had we met in the studio as professionals, it

613
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,280
Patricia Delgado: would have been a very different journey for us. I

614
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,400
Patricia Delgado: eventually did get to work with him on that level

615
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,800
Patricia Delgado: as like a dancer and him as a choreographer, and

616
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,560
Patricia Delgado: it really is like such a magical exchange to be

617
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,200
Patricia Delgado: able to together create something like I can't talk enough about it.

618
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,640
Patricia Delgado: I really I loved it, and you know it was

619
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,320
Patricia Delgado: meant to be for me that I didn't experience that

620
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,680
Patricia Delgado: younger because I was hungry for it and I was

621
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:34,120
Patricia Delgado: not going to take it for granted.

622
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,120
Emily Tisch Sussman: Patricia faced some physical limitations that she knew would eventually

623
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,479
Emily Tisch Sussman: keep her from dancing at the elite level she had

624
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,280
Emily Tisch Sussman: achieved after the break. She'll tell us about how, between

625
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:49,120
Emily Tisch Sussman: multiple injuries, as well as knowing she wanted to have

626
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,440
Emily Tisch Sussman: a family soon, she began to transition out of being

627
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: a ballerina and into the next phase of her creative

628
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:15,800
Emily Tisch Sussman: and personal life be right back. There is like a

629
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,720
Emily Tisch Sussman: physical time limit for dance on your career. You mentioned

630
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: you'd have two surgeries on each ankle, plus the end

631
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: of your career is probably also like peak reproductive years,

632
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: So like, how were all of those factors playing for

633
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,720
Emily Tisch Sussman: you as you were thinking about what those years looked like.

634
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,640
Patricia Delgado: I always knew I wanted to have a family, and

635
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,640
Patricia Delgado: this is unique to every single dancer, but I knew

636
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,040
Patricia Delgado: for me that I didn't want to have a family

637
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,080
Patricia Delgado: and keep dancing, at least not at the professional level

638
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,080
Patricia Delgado: that I was expected to be. I always felt like

639
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,440
Patricia Delgado: what I needed at MI m C Ballet was like

640
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:53,160
Patricia Delgado: a full time devotion to my craft, whether it was

641
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,440
Patricia Delgado: because I was nursing an injury, coming back from an injury,

642
00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:58,360
Patricia Delgado: and making sure that like the time spent in the

643
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,600
Patricia Delgado: studios had padded time before or after to get the

644
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,320
Patricia Delgado: pta I needed. I was always doing like alternative things

645
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,640
Patricia Delgado: like I love like gytonic and felt in Christ and

646
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,560
Patricia Delgado: all these like practices that are time consuming, but I

647
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:11,280
Patricia Delgado: felt helped me be the artist I wanted to be.

648
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,840
Patricia Delgado: I was just dancing. It was a very focused path.

649
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,560
Patricia Delgado: But when I met Justin, and it was towards the

650
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:20,200
Patricia Delgado: end I knew I was like peak reproductive year. Well

651
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,200
Patricia Delgado: probably post peak, but in my mind it was peak,

652
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,600
Patricia Delgado: and I just remember like really connecting with it. I

653
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,640
Patricia Delgado: was like, this is something I know, this is something

654
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,920
Patricia Delgado: that I have to pay attention to. And we did

655
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,560
Patricia Delgado: two and a half years of long distance because I

656
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,080
Patricia Delgado: knew that when I left mime Cita Vallet, like I

657
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,360
Patricia Delgado: wasn't going to start over in a company. I didn't

658
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,200
Patricia Delgado: know if I would go back to school. I didn't

659
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,880
Patricia Delgado: know if I would pursue that freelance artist life. I

660
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,720
Patricia Delgado: didn't have an answer. I just knew I needed to

661
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,080
Patricia Delgado: feel like whole and complete with my time at Miami.

662
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,520
Patricia Delgado: And so for two years, I really it was a

663
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,880
Patricia Delgado: very fruitful time, like I was able to dance some

664
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,239
Patricia Delgado: with Justin and his colleagues and gig and travel and

665
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,360
Patricia Delgado: kind of experience a last hurrah of what it could

666
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:04,080
Patricia Delgado: be like to still have my full time job at

667
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,160
Patricia Delgado: my Missa Ballet and do freelance work. And I had

668
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,640
Patricia Delgado: a bad injury my last season and that was sort

669
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,280
Patricia Delgado: of like, Okay, this is the universe sending me a

670
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,760
Patricia Delgado: message like come back from this and say thank you

671
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,080
Patricia Delgado: and just moved to New York. Already, You've loved the

672
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,080
Patricia Delgado: city since you were a kid. Like try. I also

673
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:24,120
Patricia Delgado: knew he wasn't going to move to Miami, right, So

674
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,000
Patricia Delgado: I was like, if this is gonna work, I want

675
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,520
Patricia Delgado: to see it through. And so I was able to

676
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,000
Patricia Delgado: have a really beautiful retirement. I came back from that

677
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,960
Patricia Delgado: injury and dance like with my sister and with my

678
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,360
Patricia Delgado: partner who I had developed like a ten year partnership

679
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:41,600
Patricia Delgado: with and had a really beautiful whole closure with the company.

680
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,560
Patricia Delgado: And then I moved here and I was like, yes,

681
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,520
Patricia Delgado: I want to have a family. This is the life

682
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,880
Patricia Delgado: I want. I don't know what's next. And I realized

683
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,960
Patricia Delgado: I'm like everyone in New York doesn't know what's next.

684
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,640
Patricia Delgado: It's like, this is awesome. I love being in this city.

685
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:55,360
Patricia Delgado: I was like everyone, just like you want to dance,

686
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,280
Patricia Delgado: I want to make something. Okay, let's work together. And

687
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,160
Patricia Delgado: so it was a lot of like fun projects kind

688
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,760
Patricia Delgado: of like coming up, and I staged some of Justin's

689
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,800
Patricia Delgado: work and I went to Germany to do that, and

690
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,440
Patricia Delgado: so I traveled and I started defining myself in a

691
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,400
Patricia Delgado: new way, not with the umbrella of Miami City Ballet,

692
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:15,680
Patricia Delgado: just as like Patricia the Dancer posts Miami City Ballet

693
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,720
Patricia Delgado: and what does that mean? And I started teaching at

694
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,040
Patricia Delgado: Juilliard and I was able to work on the West

695
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,760
Patricia Delgado: Side Story film with Justin and all these things that

696
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,000
Patricia Delgado: started being really exciting. And I didn't have a window

697
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:29,840
Patricia Delgado: of time where I was like, Okay, well, now you

698
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,800
Patricia Delgado: wanted to have that family, so you should try. I

699
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:37,360
Patricia Delgado: was like, after this project. It kind of became a joke, like, oh,

700
00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,280
Patricia Delgado: after that project, we'll try. And I have a thirst

701
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,920
Patricia Delgado: for work I do, and work that has to be

702
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,080
Patricia Delgado: meaningful to me, and now I know it doesn't only

703
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,360
Patricia Delgado: mean dancing and performing. Like even though there was always

704
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,120
Patricia Delgado: that part of me that knew I wanted to be

705
00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:52,440
Patricia Delgado: a mom, there was also a part that like needed

706
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,360
Patricia Delgado: to understand that I was not going to be regretful

707
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:57,880
Patricia Delgado: that I didn't do all these other things. And I

708
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,480
Patricia Delgado: had no guarantee then that once I a kid, I

709
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,640
Patricia Delgado: could also keep doing things. I think. There was this like, well,

710
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:05,520
Patricia Delgado: I'm a dancer, so if I don't have my body

711
00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:06,960
Patricia Delgado: the way I used to have my body, So it

712
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,880
Patricia Delgado: was just such an unknown that I was so scared

713
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:11,959
Patricia Delgado: to dive into. Was it clear that it was going

714
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,279
Patricia Delgado: to be choreography. No you okay, so no no, oh no, yeah.

715
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,200
Patricia Delgado: This is a really fun topic because I'm in it.

716
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,480
Patricia Delgado: But I for a long time was assisting Justine or

717
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:26,640
Patricia Delgado: associate or the closest I got to working like side

718
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,520
Patricia Delgado: by side with him was one of thesa social club,

719
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,000
Patricia Delgado: which was the first time we decided to be co choreographers.

720
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,600
Patricia Delgado: But I never saw myself as like I'm going to

721
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,359
Patricia Delgado: one day do what he does. I'm like a person

722
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:41,200
Patricia Delgado: that can articulate as a dancer what he wants. I

723
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:43,800
Patricia Delgado: prided myself on being able to like be the layer

724
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,040
Patricia Delgado: that could explain what he wants to so many people.

725
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,279
Patricia Delgado: After the ban ofvisa social club experience, which was the

726
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,520
Patricia Delgado: most life changing journey because I did find myself in

727
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,759
Patricia Delgado: a room full of not just dancers, but like music

728
00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:01,319
Patricia Delgado: directors and directors and costume design and lightning designers. It

729
00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,040
Patricia Delgado: was this like pool of people all coming together to

730
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:05,920
Patricia Delgado: bring this vision to life. And I had a voice,

731
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,480
Patricia Delgado: and as a Cuban American, I was like, I know

732
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,759
Patricia Delgado: this story, this is in my blood. Like how do

733
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,319
Patricia Delgado: I use my voice in my own right as a

734
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,759
Patricia Delgado: support system to Justin? And I fell in love not

735
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:19,359
Patricia Delgado: just with having that voice, but being in a theater

736
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,879
Patricia Delgado: environment where it's like so much more collaborative than when

737
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,440
Patricia Delgado: you're a dancer and you're the vessel for what everyone

738
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:28,040
Patricia Delgado: else wants to bring to life. I was like, Okay, well,

739
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,440
Patricia Delgado: I don't know what this means next, but I got

740
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,399
Patricia Delgado: a couple of offers to coreograph on my own. At first,

741
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,120
Patricia Delgado: I was like, this is not what I do. This

742
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,840
Patricia Delgado: is like pre Tony. I'm like, I love doing this

743
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,120
Patricia Delgado: with Justin and this specific project called me to it

744
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:45,000
Patricia Delgado: because it's my music. I understand this culture. But I'm

745
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,120
Patricia Delgado: not just gonna now start seeking these things. And Michael Griffe,

746
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:53,120
Patricia Delgado: who director of Rent and many other things and now

747
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,160
Patricia Delgado: such a like true friend, he called me and said,

748
00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:59,279
Patricia Delgado: I have this amazing new musical I want you to

749
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,560
Patricia Delgado: coreograph it. I was like, I've never done this, like

750
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:02,640
Patricia Delgado: I want you to do it. I know you can

751
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,040
Patricia Delgado: do this. It's exactly what we need on our team.

752
00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,000
Patricia Delgado: This music by Gloria Stephan and her daughter Emily steff On.

753
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,359
Patricia Delgado: And I'm just like, Okay, I think maybe I'm gonna

754
00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:13,399
Patricia Delgado: say I'm saying yes to this, and now I maybe

755
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,279
Patricia Delgado: need to start saying I'm a choreographer and just like

756
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,520
Patricia Delgado: owning it. And I since then have taken on a

757
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,560
Patricia Delgado: couple other commissions, and I feel like when I introduce myself,

758
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,120
Patricia Delgado: I still it's so new. Like so many other things

759
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,040
Patricia Delgado: in my life, they kind of like come to me,

760
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,799
Patricia Delgado: but this one I didn't even see it coming. Like

761
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,000
Patricia Delgado: when I said yes to do this with Justin and

762
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,719
Patricia Delgado: Buena Visa, I didn't see it as it means to

763
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:40,160
Patricia Delgado: a Tony or future theater project or future projects as

764
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,759
Patricia Delgado: a choreographer. And now that I have these opportunities, I

765
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,120
Patricia Delgado: know exactly where to put my energy. And I feel

766
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,960
Patricia Delgado: like so grateful because having a daughter during the pandemic,

767
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:53,719
Patricia Delgado: I stopped I stopped performing. I really just wanted to

768
00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:55,560
Patricia Delgado: be a mom and I didn't know what that meant.

769
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,480
Patricia Delgado: And I was like, you've waited a long time. You

770
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,600
Patricia Delgado: didn't ask for this space, it happened to you. There

771
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:04,880
Patricia Delgado: is no work dive into motherhood and I'll never forget.

772
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,600
Patricia Delgado: I just she must have been like one and a half,

773
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:09,920
Patricia Delgado: but I just felt like she's sort of looking at

774
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,360
Patricia Delgado: me different, like you're just gonna be my mom. Like

775
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,759
Patricia Delgado: obviously I'm projecting that, but like I feel like She's like,

776
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,439
Patricia Delgado: that's so cool. That does so many things, like you're

777
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,480
Patricia Delgado: just gonna be my mom, Like no, and you know

778
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,319
Patricia Delgado: it's silly, but I only knew to go back to

779
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,799
Patricia Delgado: dancing at that time. So I tried a couple of things,

780
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:30,920
Patricia Delgado: and I started having these really bad backspasms, and I

781
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,319
Patricia Delgado: was like, well, this isn't working. This is not what

782
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:35,040
Patricia Delgado: I want for myself. I don't want to not be

783
00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,040
Patricia Delgado: able to like go to the park too because I

784
00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:40,000
Patricia Delgado: have nursing a back injury. And so I feel like

785
00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,640
Patricia Delgado: the project with the Buena Visa really like opened me

786
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:44,799
Patricia Delgado: up to like, well, what can you do that you

787
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:48,920
Patricia Delgado: feel really passionate about like you felt about dancing, that

788
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,960
Patricia Delgado: would be worth time away from her and at the

789
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,759
Patricia Delgado: same time, isn't going to be like a taxing weight

790
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,319
Patricia Delgado: on your body. And just like the research that you

791
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:02,319
Patricia Delgado: can go into with choreography, like storytelling, the wealth of

792
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,359
Patricia Delgado: things you can use for inspiration that don't require you

793
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,240
Patricia Delgado: to be in like physical mode, I am all about

794
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,080
Patricia Delgado: And I feel like it's like the little girl in

795
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,040
Patricia Delgado: me that loved school, I loved learning, Like I feel

796
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,160
Patricia Delgado: like I'm coming like full circle to finding something that

797
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,840
Patricia Delgado: feels really scary and at the same time like very fulfilling.

798
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:26,239
Emily Tisch Sussman: Patricia's journey into choreography became so fulfilling to her creatively

799
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:30,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: and personally. She teamed up with her husband to choreograph

800
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: Whenavista Social Club and found a higher calling as well

801
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,879
Emily Tisch Sussman: as using her own voice.

802
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:37,719
Patricia Delgado: Do you remember I asked you to be on this

803
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:39,440
Patricia Delgado: show three years ago? I do.

804
00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:42,319
Emily Tisch Sussman: After she did West Side Story, I asked you to

805
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,040
Emily Tisch Sussman: come on and tell this story about being a dancer

806
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,120
Emily Tisch Sussman: and your career essentially ending because of injuries and the

807
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:49,719
Emily Tisch Sussman: new your choreographer. And do you remember what you said

808
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:51,919
Emily Tisch Sussman: to me. No, you said, I'm not ready to say

809
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,160
Emily Tisch Sussman: that I'm not a dancer. I still identify as a dancer.

810
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:58,319
Patricia Delgado: Yes, And I remember also saying I can't pivot, like

811
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,120
Patricia Delgado: even if I want to try to be I'm I'm

812
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,000
Patricia Delgado: not ready to pivot. That's exactly right. I remember listening

813
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,920
Patricia Delgado: to the episode Sophia Bush and just being like, I'm

814
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,080
Patricia Delgado: not she does not need me like she needs someone.

815
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,160
Patricia Delgado: But the amount of growth that has happened in those

816
00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:15,400
Patricia Delgado: three years, and it's important for me to talk about

817
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,680
Patricia Delgado: something because I like, what was it about from that

818
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:23,000
Patricia Delgado: time to now that has like charged me up in

819
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:24,720
Patricia Delgado: a way that I feel like I have something to say,

820
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,040
Patricia Delgado: and I think it has more to do with owning

821
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,719
Patricia Delgado: myself as a Latina woman. In Miami, we were all

822
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,880
Patricia Delgado: Cuban down there. And ever since I've come to New

823
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,120
Patricia Delgado: York and I've gotten to participay on projects like Westside

824
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,360
Patricia Delgado: Story or Buena Vista, I feel like there's a space

825
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,680
Patricia Delgado: for me to speak not just for myself, but on

826
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:46,040
Patricia Delgado: behalf of the Cuban women, the Latin women, or the

827
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:51,000
Patricia Delgado: Latin identity, and that has really given me purpose and

828
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:54,160
Patricia Delgado: I feel grateful that there's like a space for it now,

829
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:58,800
Patricia Delgado: but also that there's so much going on that's painful,

830
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,319
Patricia Delgado: and that I have this opportunity to shine a light

831
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:06,359
Patricia Delgado: on something hopeful and something joyous, and I just feel

832
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,120
Patricia Delgado: a responsibility to do it. And I think that's a

833
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,960
Patricia Delgado: new drive that I didn't have growing up when I

834
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,080
Patricia Delgado: was pursuing dancing that felt very personal. Even though this

835
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,400
Patricia Delgado: is my work, I feel a stronger calling, even like

836
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:21,320
Patricia Delgado: thinking about music that I want to use, Like everything

837
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,279
Patricia Delgado: feels like it's being propelled by that force of like

838
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:26,879
Patricia Delgado: holding up a people.

839
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:30,160
Emily Tisch Sussman: And how important culture is in this moment and you

840
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:32,759
Emily Tisch Sussman: are doing it successful. I mean everyone's mom. I know

841
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,839
Emily Tisch Sussman: that is from South America, Central America. Like everyone who

842
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: has seen Buena Vista, they feel seen, They feel seen

843
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,240
Emily Tisch Sussman: and appreciated. In a moment that their government is telling

844
00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:45,000
Emily Tisch Sussman: them quite the opposite. People are leaving it moved by

845
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:46,360
Emily Tisch Sussman: in a very profound way.

846
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:50,560
Patricia Delgado: Yeah, and I think it was really hard work. Marco Ramirez,

847
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:52,640
Patricia Delgado: who's the book writer, and I actually went to the

848
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:54,920
Patricia Delgado: same high school and graduated the same year in Miami.

849
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,399
Patricia Delgado: We remember meeting each other and then our paths went

850
00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,040
Patricia Delgado: in such different directions, and when we came back to

851
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,520
Patricia Delgado: this project and we're like, this is a loaded task

852
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,279
Patricia Delgado: that we have, I think knowing that we wanted to

853
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:12,360
Patricia Delgado: protect the nature of it being not a political story,

854
00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:15,920
Patricia Delgado: just like a human story, an artist, a story, a

855
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:19,319
Patricia Delgado: generational story, because it felt like growing up there was

856
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:23,200
Patricia Delgado: so much about our past and our culture that felt politicized,

857
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,279
Patricia Delgado: and it was so important to us to not do that.

858
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:28,759
Patricia Delgado: And I cut to now that it's like having this

859
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,480
Patricia Delgado: journey that none of us expected but are so grateful for,

860
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,000
Patricia Delgado: and that that is the takeaway that people are coming

861
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,040
Patricia Delgado: out of there just like full of hope and joy.

862
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,719
Patricia Delgado: I'm so honored to have been a part of that

863
00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,360
Patricia Delgado: intention and just how people talk about it to others

864
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,880
Patricia Delgado: and they even feel the joy. I gotta go see it, like, yeah,

865
00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:51,000
Patricia Delgado: it just feels so good. Yeah, to have something like

866
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,120
Patricia Delgado: that in the world right now and it didn't happen

867
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:56,280
Patricia Delgado: in a vacuum. You won the Tony Award for it. Yeah,

868
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,839
Patricia Delgado: it was the first Tony Award that was given that night.

869
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,480
Patricia Delgado: I was in the audience. Everyone was in tears at

870
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,360
Patricia Delgado: your speech. It really set the tone. What did it

871
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,400
Patricia Delgado: mean to you? Oh gosh, okay. So the funny version

872
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,560
Patricia Delgado: of this is that Justin had won two Tony's right

873
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:13,600
Patricia Delgado: in a row for Carousel and then Illinois. And I

874
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:15,960
Patricia Delgado: remember watching the Tony's on my couch when I was

875
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,600
Patricia Delgado: a kid, Like that was my hallway into Broadway shows.

876
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:21,960
Patricia Delgado: I came maybe and saw one a year in the

877
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,480
Patricia Delgado: summer to a year. That was how my education for

878
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:27,760
Patricia Delgado: a Broadway show is on my couch. During the Tonys,

879
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:30,759
Patricia Delgado: I just felt like ever since I was kind of

880
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,840
Patricia Delgado: invited into the world. And as you know, Justin's plus

881
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:35,719
Patricia Delgado: one as the date. But I felt like it was

882
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:38,560
Patricia Delgado: this community that like held other people up. And I

883
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:40,719
Patricia Delgado: remember Justin saying this to me, is like I just

884
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,640
Patricia Delgado: want to feel like accepted by this community, Like I

885
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:45,680
Patricia Delgado: know I come from the ballet world. I just want

886
00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,719
Patricia Delgado: them to feel me and see me. And I was like, wow,

887
00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:51,120
Patricia Delgado: that's such a cool thing to want that, because like

888
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:53,880
Patricia Delgado: I'm from the outside. It was not something I needed.

889
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:55,840
Patricia Delgado: I didn't think we were going to win. And the

890
00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:57,960
Patricia Delgado: funny thing that I kept telling myself is like, I

891
00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,160
Patricia Delgado: don't care, it doesn't matter. It's more that this would

892
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:03,719
Patricia Delgado: be the one that Justin lost, and I don't want

893
00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:05,680
Patricia Delgado: to be the one that Justin lost. Like I was like,

894
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:08,000
Patricia Delgado: that can't be it. And at the same time, like

895
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,840
Patricia Delgado: I already felt like the show was running. I remember

896
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:13,719
Patricia Delgado: sitting on my couch and at the nominee announcement and

897
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,440
Patricia Delgado: just like bawling my parents, like have never been back

898
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,439
Patricia Delgado: to Cuba. This is the closest I could have brought

899
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,719
Patricia Delgado: Cuba to my parents. I feel so moved by the

900
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:23,680
Patricia Delgado: show and proud of the show that we didn't need it.

901
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:26,799
Patricia Delgado: And at the same time, there's so many events leading

902
00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:28,840
Patricia Delgado: up to that night we get to meet with like

903
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:31,520
Patricia Delgado: other nominees, but also just like people from the community.

904
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:35,320
Patricia Delgado: I remember Sergio Throuhio just like sharing such beautiful words

905
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:39,160
Patricia Delgado: with me about like the lineage of like Latin makers,

906
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:42,680
Patricia Delgado: and yeah, you feel like not just embraced with the community,

907
00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:46,400
Patricia Delgado: but like this is now an opportunity and responsibility to

908
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,719
Patricia Delgado: keep doing it. What I felt that night was like

909
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:51,919
Patricia Delgado: standing in front of all these people, like I'll keep

910
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:54,560
Patricia Delgado: making Like I promise I'll keep doing it. It was

911
00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:57,839
Patricia Delgado: less about the award for what we made and more

912
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,560
Patricia Delgado: about thank you for like igniting me, like pushing me,

913
00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,399
Patricia Delgado: because I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for this,

914
00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:07,200
Patricia Delgado: you know, and to have shared it with justin. I mean,

915
00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:09,960
Patricia Delgado: it was really hard. It was really hard process and

916
00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:13,239
Patricia Delgado: working together with someone that you live with and like

917
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,719
Patricia Delgado: are in partnership with in life and work, it's just

918
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,719
Patricia Delgado: all challenging the fellow. We both could like stand there

919
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,840
Patricia Delgado: proud of what we made and that we were so

920
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:24,840
Patricia Delgado: madly in love with each other and get to like sure.

921
00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:27,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: That you gave this beautiful speech about what it meant

922
00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:29,920
Emily Tisch Sussman: to you and your heritage and the symbolism. And I

923
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,800
Emily Tisch Sussman: had turned to the person that I was at the

924
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:33,239
Emily Tisch Sussman: even and said, I can't believe it.

925
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:35,520
Patricia Delgado: She told me she doesn't think that she's a choreographer.

926
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:37,200
Patricia Delgado: And so right after you let the sage.

927
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:38,680
Emily Tisch Sussman: I texted you and I said, are you ready to

928
00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:40,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: call yourself a choreographer yet?

929
00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,719
Patricia Delgado: And you were like, yes, I have to. I'm not

930
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:45,080
Patricia Delgado: a choice. Now I have no other choice. Now I

931
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,760
Patricia Delgado: feel like that's exactly what it meant. And you remember

932
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:51,400
Patricia Delgado: that that's so cool. Oh, I'll never forget it. It was amazing,

933
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,719
Patricia Delgado: And I do feel like that's the thing I want

934
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:58,680
Patricia Delgado: to change for my daughters that, Like, I think visibility

935
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,799
Patricia Delgado: is so important. You know, the three living choreographers that

936
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:04,720
Patricia Delgado: I worked with were all men, white men, and I

937
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,040
Patricia Delgado: luckily got to work with Twyla Tharp, who's a huge

938
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,120
Patricia Delgado: inspiration to me. But she's an anomaly. You know. You

939
00:45:10,160 --> 00:45:11,960
Patricia Delgado: want to see it so that you could do it.

940
00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:14,400
Patricia Delgado: This isn't like I didn't think I wanted to be

941
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:17,279
Patricia Delgado: a choreographer, But now that I have the responsibility, I'm like,

942
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:19,680
Patricia Delgado: everyone can do this. Like I teach at Juilliard and

943
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:23,800
Patricia Delgado: there's a huge push to put students in their eighteen

944
00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:26,920
Patricia Delgado: nineteen twenty to try choreography because we all have something

945
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:29,280
Patricia Delgado: to say. And I think on the path of becoming

946
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,359
Patricia Delgado: a dancer sometimes we are being told a lot what

947
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:34,960
Patricia Delgado: to do versus why is it that you want to

948
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:37,600
Patricia Delgado: see in the world, Like we all have a lens

949
00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:41,640
Patricia Delgado: that we see so activating that that making muscle.

950
00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:44,840
Emily Tisch Sussman: Empowering them to believe in their own voice from the beginning,

951
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:47,840
Emily Tisch Sussman: What is something that at the time, it could be

952
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:50,279
Emily Tisch Sussman: something we've talked about, could be something different, something that

953
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:52,160
Emily Tisch Sussman: at the time you saw as a real low point

954
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:54,680
Emily Tisch Sussman: for you, but it changed your perspective and now you

955
00:45:54,719 --> 00:45:56,520
Emily Tisch Sussman: see it as having really launched you to the success

956
00:45:56,520 --> 00:45:57,160
Emily Tisch Sussman: you are today.

957
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:01,680
Patricia Delgado: Such a good question. It probably happened, and that every injury,

958
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:05,040
Patricia Delgado: the first one is the hardest, I think for me,

959
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:07,520
Patricia Delgado: Like what made that the lowest point is that it

960
00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,160
Patricia Delgado: was the first time that I couldn't do what I

961
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:12,759
Patricia Delgado: thought I was supposed to do. That's how I make

962
00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:17,520
Patricia Delgado: my living, That's how I identify. I have to have someone

963
00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:19,719
Patricia Delgado: cut me up and fix me, and I have to

964
00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:23,880
Patricia Delgado: surrender that control, right, I have to trust someone else.

965
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:25,560
Patricia Delgado: I don't have to go into the gym. But it

966
00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,360
Patricia Delgado: was a complex diagnosis. But what happened when I finally

967
00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:31,560
Patricia Delgado: had to just surrender and say, okay, well now I'm out,

968
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:35,799
Patricia Delgado: is that I started watching a lot of performances. A

969
00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:37,680
Patricia Delgado: lot of people say, if I'm injured I can't watch.

970
00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:40,520
Patricia Delgado: It hurts too much. But I'm like, I love this

971
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,160
Patricia Delgado: art form. I love my friends in the company. Like, yeah,

972
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:46,600
Patricia Delgado: it is hard to watch, but what am I going

973
00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:49,000
Patricia Delgado: to do? I have to support them. But what I

974
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,600
Patricia Delgado: found from watching is like I got a perspective of

975
00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:55,080
Patricia Delgado: being in the audience. I got a perspective of not

976
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:56,920
Patricia Delgado: having to go to my dressing room and like warm up.

977
00:46:57,000 --> 00:46:58,760
Patricia Delgado: I got to like hang out back stage and watch

978
00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:02,560
Patricia Delgado: stage hands top to production teams. I got to teach

979
00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:05,200
Patricia Delgado: in school for the first time, So I got to teach,

980
00:47:05,640 --> 00:47:08,880
Patricia Delgado: and I think like zooming out and having the lens

981
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:11,840
Patricia Delgado: of observer and like someone who could appreciate what was

982
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:15,160
Patricia Delgado: going on all around them within the industry, within the forum.

983
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:18,600
Patricia Delgado: Now as like a maker, I'm like I'm sitting in

984
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:20,880
Patricia Delgado: the audience all the time making decisions and having to

985
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:24,960
Patricia Delgado: communicate and understanding why that wasn't called right because that person,

986
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:27,160
Patricia Delgado: that stage manager has like a thousand other things that

987
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,440
Patricia Delgado: their captain of the ship. So it's like the empathy

988
00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:33,040
Patricia Delgado: I think that I have now and the patients I

989
00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:36,520
Patricia Delgado: have now I think I gained during that injury when

990
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:39,759
Patricia Delgado: I was very young. And I also I think it

991
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:45,000
Patricia Delgado: gave me an appreciation for like how sensitive our bodies

992
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:48,239
Patricia Delgado: are and how fragile even though we're so strong. And

993
00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:51,239
Patricia Delgado: I think I approach any artists that I work with

994
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:55,040
Patricia Delgado: in a way that's like you don't know what they're nurturing, navigating,

995
00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:57,640
Patricia Delgado: trying to take care of, Like we don't know what

996
00:47:57,680 --> 00:48:00,600
Patricia Delgado: they're bringing into the room. We all all have like

997
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:03,600
Patricia Delgado: the microaggressions. We all have little ankle sprains here and there.

998
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,680
Patricia Delgado: We all have things that I think, you know, at

999
00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:08,960
Patricia Delgado: a young age, it was like a formative thing that

1000
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:11,920
Patricia Delgado: I had to learn to live with and come back from.

1001
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:15,399
Patricia Delgado: So I can can see it in others now and yeah,

1002
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:17,640
Patricia Delgado: I had I not gone through that, I wouldn't have

1003
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:20,759
Patricia Delgado: like the natural empathy to have that. Do you think

1004
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:24,040
Patricia Delgado: you'll pivot again? Yes, the answer is yes. So I

1005
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:27,120
Patricia Delgado: lived in Miami my entire life, too scared to move

1006
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:30,560
Patricia Delgado: for different reasons for many years. I moved when I

1007
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:34,279
Patricia Delgado: was thirty four. And when I did that first move,

1008
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:36,920
Patricia Delgado: it was hard, Like it's so weird to think back,

1009
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:38,799
Patricia Delgado: like why was that so hard? But it was like

1010
00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:40,680
Patricia Delgado: defining I'm like I'm not going to live where I

1011
00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:43,319
Patricia Delgado: spent so many years and realizing that a lot of

1012
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:46,279
Patricia Delgado: it was fear right, and so facing that fear and

1013
00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:50,560
Patricia Delgado: realizing that it's better actually than it was. I promised

1014
00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:53,560
Patricia Delgado: myself that I wouldn't get attached to New York, like

1015
00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:55,600
Patricia Delgado: I'm ready, you want to move tomorrow, let's go. I

1016
00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:58,279
Patricia Delgado: want to be together, that's the goal. And so I

1017
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:03,080
Patricia Delgado: feel similarly in this growth into saying confidently that I

1018
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:06,359
Patricia Delgado: am a poreographer and this first pivot, which I really

1019
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:08,799
Patricia Delgado: do feel like it's the first one, Similarly, I don't

1020
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:11,520
Patricia Delgado: want to hold on to it and let it define

1021
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:15,080
Patricia Delgado: me and not be open to the courage that took

1022
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:17,719
Patricia Delgado: me a while to say to you and just dive

1023
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:19,840
Patricia Delgado: into these other things. I think part of it is

1024
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:23,040
Patricia Delgado: also the label right, just go for it, just do

1025
00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:26,920
Patricia Delgado: other things, and whatever that is will reveal itself to you.

1026
00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:29,799
Patricia Delgado: If I try to start putting goals onto this, it

1027
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:33,120
Patricia Delgado: feels outward. It doesn't feel like it's coming from who

1028
00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:36,000
Patricia Delgado: I am, because of just the nature of I want

1029
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:37,920
Patricia Delgado: to be present and I want things to make me

1030
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:40,839
Patricia Delgado: feel alive, and I want to be part of communities

1031
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:43,799
Patricia Delgado: that need me and I need them. But I don't

1032
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,239
Patricia Delgado: want to create like a goal list, and I want

1033
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:49,080
Patricia Delgado: to just let them happen and then be ready for

1034
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:51,040
Patricia Delgado: them and not be scared of them.

1035
00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:54,560
Emily Tisch Sussman: Yeah, thank you so much for this conversation. I feel

1036
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:58,200
Emily Tisch Sussman: like I've interviewed probably one hundred and fifty plus people,

1037
00:49:58,320 --> 00:50:02,640
Emily Tisch Sussman: and you have articulated so many things clearly and distinctly

1038
00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:05,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: that we've talked around but never really had the language

1039
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:07,920
Emily Tisch Sussman: to really get into. So I'm so appreciative of this conversation.

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00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:10,800
Patricia Delgado: I will do this for you anytime. I'm such a

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00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:14,080
Patricia Delgado: fan of she pivots and you will come back to

1042
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:18,280
Patricia Delgado: the next pivot. Oh my god, I said yes, so yes, Okay.

1043
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:24,360
Emily Tisch Sussman: When I first asked Patricia to come on this show,

1044
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:27,080
Emily Tisch Sussman: she told me she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to

1045
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,040
Emily Tisch Sussman: say she wasn't a dancer. She felt like she couldn't pivot.

1046
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,399
Emily Tisch Sussman: And I think about that a lot because so many

1047
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:35,200
Emily Tisch Sussman: of us are in that exact spot. They were physical

1048
00:50:35,239 --> 00:50:37,399
Emily Tisch Sussman: reasons that made it clear to Patricia that things had

1049
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:39,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: to change. She didn't know what would come next, but

1050
00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:43,160
Emily Tisch Sussman: she chose to pivot into something new that allowed her

1051
00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:46,120
Emily Tisch Sussman: to own her own identity and speak with her own voice.

1052
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:49,520
Emily Tisch Sussman: And then on the biggest stage in American theater, she

1053
00:50:49,800 --> 00:50:53,880
Emily Tisch Sussman: let herself say it out Loud. I am a choreographer

1054
00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:58,200
Emily Tisch Sussman: and she has the Tony to prove it. Patricia's pivot

1055
00:50:58,239 --> 00:51:00,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: story is about coming home to her cult, her passion,

1056
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:03,160
Emily Tisch Sussman: and to the parts of herself that our old life

1057
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:06,480
Emily Tisch Sussman: didn't have room for. You can keep up with Patricia

1058
00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:10,000
Emily Tisch Sussman: on Instagram at Patti Dell Dancer. Go see Buena Visa's

1059
00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:12,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: Social Club on Broadway if you can, and don't forget

1060
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,399
Emily Tisch Sussman: to tune into the Tony's this Sunday. I'll be there

1061
00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:18,920
Emily Tisch Sussman: with some special guests. That's all for today. See you

1062
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:24,640
Emily Tisch Sussman: next week. Thanks for listening to She Pivots. If you

1063
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:27,239
Emily Tisch Sussman: like this episode, follow the show so you never miss

1064
00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:29,640
Emily Tisch Sussman: a pivot story and share it with one woman in

1065
00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:32,280
Emily Tisch Sussman: your life who might need to hear it. To learn

1066
00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:35,040
Emily Tisch Sussman: more about our guests and join our community, follow us

1067
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:38,880
Emily Tisch Sussman: on Instagram at she pivots the podcast our Subscribe to

1068
00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:42,400
Emily Tisch Sussman: our substack for exclusive content and behind the scenes conversations.

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Emily Tisch Sussman: You can also find us at shepivotspod dot com. This

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00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:50,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: episode was produced and edited by Paige Davis Janatt, with

1071
00:51:51,120 --> 00:51:54,800
Emily Tisch Sussman: sound editing and mixing by Nina Pollock. Logistics and planning

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00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:58,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: by Emma Stopic and Kendall Crupkin. Research by Christine Dickison.

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00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:00,960
Emily Tisch Sussman: She pivots is pres to be a part of the

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00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:05,600
Emily Tisch Sussman: iHeart podcast network. I endorse te pivots