Photo Credit: American Ballet Theatre
When you think of ballet, it’s typically a woman in a tutu up on her toes, doing an impossible yet beautiful move. Misty Copeland has completely flipped that idea and has become the new face of ballet unknowingly. As the first African-American woman to be a principal dancer in the American Ballet Company, Copeland is changing people’s perceptions on the culture around ballet.
Although it may seem like it, Copeland has not been dancing her whole life. She began taking dance classes at age 13 and quickly became one of the best in her class. By age 15, she won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. As young as Copeland was at the time, people were already seeing her potential and offering her adult contracts.
As good as Copeland was, she declined, but still danced along with being homeschooled. A custody battle broke out between Copeland’s mother and her dance teachers who were eventually dropped. In the summers, Copeland received scholarships to perform for the American Ballet Company in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, she graduated from high school and immediately decided to attend the American Ballet Theatre, starting with their studio company.
During her time with the studio company, she performed in many popular ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Prince Igor and a smaller role in Swan Lake. In 2007, she was promoted to a soloist in the ABT. At the time, she became one of the youngest woman to receive that honor and would remain the ABT’s only black dancer in the company.
During that time, she was referred to as the “Jackie Robinson of ballet” although she was not the first black soloist in the company’s history. Copeland quickly started to become even more popular with the public and was even named to 2015 Times 100 which featured her on the cover. She continued to be featured prominently in the ABT’s productions and in August of 2015, she would finally get her payoff.
Misty Copeland was named a principal dancer in the American Ballet Company. She became the first African-American woman to receive that title in the company’s existence. Her success would only continue from there as she would perform on Broadway and danced in Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker. She is also scheduled to perform in Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet along with many other productions this spring.
Copeland has cemented herself as a prominent figure in pop culture as well. She was a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance, featured on 60 Minutes and walked at New York Fashion Week last year just to name a few. She has received many awards and accolades since her career began, being named a Dance Magazine 2014 honoree, one of Glamour’s Women Of The Year for 2015, a part of ESPNW’s Impact25 list and one of Barbara Walters 10 most fascinating people in 2015.
She has ventured into other areas, including writing a memoir, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina”, a dance wear line and writing a children’s book. She is one of the current faces of Under Armour and has a documentary centered around her life available on Netflix. Copeland dedicates a lot of her time to charity, focusing on mentoring young boys and girls, spending time volunteering with the Boys & Girls Club of America. Copeland has transcended all who have doubted her along the way, debunked the stereotype of African-American woman not being ballerinas, and has become an excellent role model for all young girls.
