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Misty Copeland
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Misty Copeland is a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, the first black woman to be promoted to the position in the company's 75-year history in 2015. She has performed some of the most iconic classical ballet roles, including Odette/Odile in Swan Lake; Juliet in Romeo & Juliet; Giselle; Manon; Coppelia; Kitri in Don Quixote; and Firebird, to name a few.
Misty has been featured in several publications, including the cover of Time Magazine for the Time 100 and has appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC's Good Morning America, and NBC's The Today Show.
She performed in 2019 with Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards and at the 2020 Grammy Awards alongside Camila Cabello, Common, Ben Platt, and dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, as well as the televised Prince Grammy Tribute performing with award-winning recording artist H.E.R.. Misty made her Broadway debut in On The Town in 2015 and her major motion picture debut in Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms in 2018.
Misty started her production company, Life In Motion Productions, and is working on her first project, Flower, a silent arts activism film using dance to help raise awareness about homelessness.
Misty is an avid philanthropist and is an ambassador of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, of which is also an alum, and MindLeaps, an arts education program based in Rwanda that helps young people get off the streets and into an academic setting to help enhance their lives. She is the bestselling author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Life In Motion; an award-winning children's picture book titled Firebird; a New York Times bestselling lifestyle book titled Ballerina Body; and the New York Times bestselling children's picture book, Bunheads. This year, her newest book, Black Ballerinas: My Journey To Our Legacy, will publish in November.
Session Info
Misty Copeland
In The News...
Misty Copeland Writes Middle-Grade Book Celebrating Black Ballerinas: 'This Is My Bow to Them'
Misty Copeland was 16 years old when she saw an image that changed the course of her life: a Black ballerina on the cover of a magazine.
The photograph inspired the young girl to become the first Black female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre — and now she's writing a book to encourage other young aspiring dancers, Black Ballerinas.
The Misty Effect
She was Prince's muse, a former member of President Obama's Council of Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, inspired a documentary, starred in a Disney film...and so much more. As the first African American female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is a legend. She broke the ballerina mold and fought for diversity on and off-stage and reached the top of her field. Today, she's shining worldwide with her virtual ballet Masterclass.
