Misty Copeland is an author, public speaker, and professional ballet dancer. She is well-known for her remarkable career as the American Ballet Theatre’s first African American main dancer (ABT).
Copeland was born in 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri. She began her dancing instruction at a local community centre when she was 13 years old. Despite her late start, Copeland rapidly shown a natural gift for dancing and began studying at California’s San Pedro City Ballet. She joined the ABT’s Studio Company in 2000, at the age of 17, and the ABT’s corps de ballet in 2001.
Copeland was elevated to soloist in 2007, making her the third African American woman in ABT history. She was elevated to main dancer in 2015, making her the first African American woman in the company’s 75-year history.
Copeland has garnered various awards for her performance as a dancer during her career. She is the recipient of several accolades, including the Dance Magazine Award, the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, and the Congressional Horizon Award. She was named one of Time magazine’s top 100 most important persons in the world in 2014.
Besides her dance career, Copeland has also written a number of novels, including “Firebird,” a children’s book, and “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina.” A Ballerina’s Tale and “Breaking Pointe” are among the documentaries and motion pictures she has appeared in, and she is committed to promoting diversity in ballet.
Copeland pushes limits and contests conventional ideas of what a ballet dancer should seem like, and she continues to inspire and have an impact on the dance community. Her career has been a remarkable example of tenacity and dedication in the face of hardship, and she has become a role model for many young dancers, especially those of colour.
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Misty Copeland Quotes
- More often than we realize, people see in us what we don’t see in ourselves.
- Depending on the level you’re at in your company, the higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance.
- Something happens when you feel that energy and excitement from the audience. And you do, I don’t know, four pirouettes. You jump higher than you ever have. And it’s just this really magical thing that happens in those moments.
- Don’t hold on to the barre like, ‘I might die.’ It’s just ballet.
- All you can do is be your best self. I’ve always felt that I had to be that much more aware of how I present myself. I’m representing more than just me. I think every person should think that way.
- Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.
- It’s hard to change someone’s ideas when they might not even really consciously know that they’re being racist, or have racist ideas, just because ballet has been this way for hundreds of years.
- Finding ballet was like finding this missing piece of myself.
- Perseverance has always just been something that was in me. And it was a tool that came in very handy as a ballerina.
- Ballet was so structured. I’d been craving something that could guide me.
- Barack Obama being President of the United States doesn’t mean racism has disappeared. It’s all a process, and we have to be aware that the work never ends.
- What you put into your body is just as important as how hard you dance. I believe with the right training and an understanding of how to take care of your body, you can mold it to be whatever you want it to be.
