“For many years, I struggled silently, trying to hide the fact that I was in over my head and I didn’t know if I could keep dancing. I didn’t have a diabetes educator, and I didn’t have a doctor who understood. I was misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes because I was in my early twenties,” says Former Soloist Ballerina Zippora Karz, living with type 1 diabetes, on Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast featuring music by Christina Aguilera.

Zippora joined the New York City Ballet at seventeen in the 80s. She danced to George Balanchine’s ballets every night.

What’s life like for a ballerina?

“You are creating a new vocabulary within your body. You have to work on it every day. We take morning classes to improve your legs’ line and your jumps and turns because it’s not natural. And then, you a different program every night. A six-hour rehearsal day, and then you perform that night.”

“I was in my third year with the ballet when I was diagnosed with diabetes,” says Zippora. “However, my doctors didn’t understand the athleticism and energy output of a ballerina.

So what kept her going?

“I felt pressure to prove that nothing changed. But the magic I experienced dancing was so intense that I had to keep going and had to preserve.”

Former New York City Ballet Soloist Ballerina & Author (Sugarless Plum) Zippora Karz is a guest on this episode of Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast. We Are Diabetes founder Asha Brown, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, and Mama Rose Marie.