Ballet Dancer Misty Copeland
MISTY COPELAND is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.
Copeland was considered a prodigy who rose to stardom despite not starting ballet until the age of thirteen. When she was seven, Misty saw the film Nadia on television and its subject Nadia Comăneci became her new role model. Copeland never studied ballet or gymnastics formally until her teenage years, but she enjoyed choreographing flips and dance moves to Mariah Carey songs in her youth. Following in the footsteps of her older sister Erica, who had starred on the Dana Middle School drill team that won statewide competitions, Copeland became captain of the Dana drill team. Her captaincy was only a part of her responsibilities; she was also the sixth grade class treasurer and a hall monitor that year. Copeland's natural grace came to the attention of her classically trained Dana drill team coach, Elizabeth Cantine, in San Pedro.
In early 1996, Ms. Cantine convinced Misty to attend a ballet class at her local Boys & Girls Club. Cynthia Bradley, a friend of Ms. Cantine's, taught a free ballet class at the club once a week. Misty's mother allowed her to go to the club after school until the workday ended. She attended several classes as a spectator before participating. Mrs. Bradley invited Misty to attend class at her small local ballet school, San Pedro Dance Center. She initially declined the offer due to lack of transportation. She officially began her ballet studies at the age of 13 at the San Pedro Dance Center when Cynthia Bradley began picking her up from school. After three months of study, Copeland was en pointe.
Misty's mother told Ms. Copeland that she would have to give up ballet, but Elizabeth Bradley wanted Misty to continue and offered to host her. Her mother agreed to this, and Misty moved in with Ms. Bradley and her family. Eventually, Misty and her mother signed a management contract and a life-story contract with Mrs. Bradley. Misty spent the weekdays with the Bradleys near the coast and the weekends at home with her mother, a two-hour bus ride away. By the age of fourteen, Misty was the winner of a national ballet contest and won her first solo role. The Bradleys introduced Misty to books and videos about ballet. When she saw Paloma Herrera, a principal ballerina with ABT, perform at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, she began to idolize her as much as she did Mariah Carey. The media first noticed her when she drew 2,000 patrons per show as she performed as Clara in The Nutcracker at the San Pedro High School after only eight months of study. A larger role as Kitri in Don Quixote at the San Pedro Dance Center and a featured role in The Chocolate Nutcracker, an African American version of the tale, narrated by Debbie Allen, soon followed. The latter was presented at UCLA's Royce Hall. Misty's role was modified especially for her, and included ethnic dances.
At fifteen years old, Misty won first place in the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards at the Chandler Pavilion in March 1998. Misty said it was the first time she ever battled nervousness. The winners received scholarships between $500 and $2500. Her victory in the 10th annual contest among gifted high school students in Southern California secured her recognition by the Los Angeles Times as the best young dancer in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Misty attended the summer workshop at the San Francisco Ballet School in 1998. She and Mrs. Bradley selected the workshop over offers from the Joffrey Ballet, ABT and Dance Theater of Harlem, among others. Of the programs she auditioned for, only New York City Ballet declined to make her an offer. San Francisco Ballet, ABT and New York City Ballet are regarded as the three preeminent classical ballet companies in the US. During the six-week workshop at San Francisco, Copeland was placed in the most advanced classes and was under a full tuition plus expenses scholarship. At the end of the workshop, she received one of the few offers to continue as a full-time student at the school. She declined the offer because of the encouragement from her mother to return home, the prospect of continuing personal training from the Bradley family and dreams of a subsequent summer with ABT.
In 1997, Copeland won the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Award as the best dancer in Southern California. After two summer workshops with ABT, she became a member of ABT's Studio Company in 2000 and its corps de ballet in 2001, and became an ABT soloist in 2007. As a soloist from 2007 to mid-2015, she was described as having matured into a more contemporary and sophisticated dancer.
Misty has been featured in music videos, in musical stage performances, and on film. She has designed a dancewear line called called M by Misty. In 2014, she released a memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, as well as a children's picture book, titled Firebird. In 2017, she released a third book, Ballerina Body, a health and fitness guide. She has numerous modeling and television/print ad endorsements.
In 2008, she won the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, which funds study with master teachers and trainers outside of ABT. In 2013, she was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In 2014, Misty was named to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford for her contributions to classical ballet and helping to diversify the art form. She was a Dance Magazine Awards 2014 honoree. After her promotion as principal dancer, Copeland was named one of Glamour's Women of the Year for 2015; one of ESPN's 2015 Impact 25 athletes and influencers who have made the greatest impact for women in sports; and, by Barbara Walters, one of the 10 "most fascinating" people of 2015. In 2016, Copeland won a Shorty Award for Best in Dance in Social Media.
To learn more about Misty Copeland, her beautiful ballet art, and her passion for giving back, visit her website by clicking here!
