Misty Copeland
First Black Principal Dancer at the American Ballet Theatre
Portrait of Misty Copeland during a warmup.
Misty Copeland is a well-known ballerina, but she ventured into other avenues as her fame and influence increased over the years. Misty toured with the late singer Prince. She published several books. She landed sponsorships with luxury brands such as Coach and Under Armour. Misty performed on Broadway in Leonard Bernstein’s musical On the Town. And she even appeared in a feature film, namely The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, adapted from the nineteenth-century ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Misty Danielle Copeland was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 10, 1982. She has several siblings who resulted from her mother’s various failed marriages. Misty and her family later moved to San Pedro, California. When she was a child, dance and choreography enthralled Misty. But her formal dance training did not begin until the age of 13. Her introduction to dance came through the drill team at her middle school. The drill team coach recognized Misty’s talent and recommended she take ballet classes at the local Boys & Girls Club. Cynthia Bradley, who taught ballet at the program, took Misty under her wing, and the two trained together at the San Pedro Ballet School.
Portrait of Misty Copeland in 1998. Based on a photo by Kevin Karzin | AP
In 1998, she studied ballet at a San Francisco Ballet School workshop. The Summer Intensive program hosted by the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) followed in 1999 and 2000. Misty received full scholarships during those three years, and in September 2000, she joined ABT’s Studio Company. But a lumbar stress fracture prevented her from dancing for close to a year. Misty’s ballet career delayed puberty, so a doctor advised that she induce it to strengthen her bones. She heeded the advice and started taking prescribed birth control pills. As a result, her body began to develop. That caused some embarrassment due to the perceived shift in body type from traditional ballerinas. Of that time, Misty recalled:
“I became so self-conscious that, for the first time in my life, I couldn't dance strong. I was too busy trying to hide my breasts.”
Misty struggled with her body image from that point on and developed an eating disorder, particularly after the company’s management approached her about her physical transformation. But supportive friends provided comfort and voices of reason during those difficult times, and Misty embraced her physique. In April 2001, she joined ABT’s parent company. She was made a member of the corps de ballet, but being the only black female dancer in the company became burdensome, and Misty contemplated a career change. Artistic director Kevin McKenzie stepped in and invited the vice-chair of the company’s board of directors, Susan Fales-Hill, to mentor the struggling talent. Susan, an arts advocate, was sensitive to the issue and opened Misty to a world of black dance pioneers. The exposure helped Misty regain her perspective and focus.
In another six years, she became a female soloist, making her the fourth black dancer at ABT to hold that distinction. In August 2015, eight years later, Misty Copeland made history when ABT officials promoted her to principal dancer. Misty, in effect, became the first black woman to enjoy that position in the 75 years the American Ballet Theatre existed.
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