Misty Copeland
I was the first person in my family who was ever interested in dance, or fine art of any kind for that matter - I came from a very humble beginning in San Pedro, California.Collection: Family
I feel like going to class every morning is so humbling. You're always working to improve, and you're always being critiqued on your next performance. It's not about what you've done. There's always room to grow.Collection: Morning
When it came to my childhood - growing up in a single-parent home, often struggling financially - my mother definitely instilled in me and my siblings this strength, this will, to just continue to survive and succeed.Collection: Home
A young girl reached out to me to be her mentor one day, which I didn't really know anything about. What I did remember was what it was to be alone as an African-American dancer in the ballet world and wanting to connect with someone who looks like me.Collection: Alone
I've gotten nothing but warmth from the Black community and positive feedback.Collection: Positive
There are hundreds of stories I've heard from black women from my generation, generations before me, and the next, that have never been given an opportunity to fulfill their dreams.Collection: Dreams
I want the ballet world to be given the respect that it deserves and to be seen by more people - for so many to experience the beauty that I've received from the ballet world.Collection: Experience
Whenever there was chaos in my house, whether it was arguing, being in a cramped space with all of us kids and screaming, I found an empty space where I could just put music on and move.Collection: Space
Before dance came into my life, I don't really remember having any major goals or dreams of wanting to be anything.Collection: Dreams
Every time I step onto the stage, it's not only proving to the audience that I'm capable but to myself.Collection: Time
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.Collection: Best
I think I'm pretty laid back. I like cooking, being at home, and going to concerts. And I love to shop!Collection: Home
I think most people think of ballerinas as kind of either as a fairytale, far-away thing that's really not attainable, something they can't grasp, or they think of them as European or Russian and kind of their nose up in the air. So, it's cool for me to, like, sit with them and for them to really see themselves as me.Collection: Cool
Being in ballet class, being on the stage, being surrounded by my peers at American Ballet Theater every day, keeps me so humble and grounded. Being in ballet class, I feel, is like this meditation for me every morning.Collection: Morning
Every time I dance, I'm trying to prove myself to myself.Collection: Time
When I was younger, my feet would hurt a lot, but you build up calluses and strength, and you don't feel as much pain there. But then again, it's a give and take. The older you get, you may feel pain in your back or your hips.Collection: Strength
Being one of the few African American women to make it to this level in a classical ballet company, the level of American Ballet Theatre, takes a lot of perseverance.Collection: Women
I wake up every morning, and I go to ballet class no matter what's going on the night before. That's my priority, and that's what makes me feel sane and not removed from the realities of my world.Collection: Morning
Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.
Finding ballet was like finding this missing piece of myself.
More often than we realize, people see in us what we don't see in ourselves.
My childhood is a part of my story, and it's why I'm who I am today and why my career is what it is.
Being the only African American at this level in American Ballet Theater, I feel like people are looking at me, and it's my responsibility for me to do whatever I can to provide these opportunities in communities to be able to educate them.
To be empathetic to everyone around you, I think, is such a powerful thing to hold.
There are no taking days off. There are no distractions. If I had that, I physically wouldn't be capable of going onstage and performing live theater. It's extremely demanding. I have to be in ballet class every day.
You have to be the one promoting yourself. If you don't think that you're worthy, you're never going to make it.
That something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning of my career is I didn't want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the... ballet. I wanted to be myself. I didn't want to have to wear makeup that made my nose look thinner.
I didn't care how much work it would take, and I didn't see the time invested as a waste or like I was missing out on anything. Ballet became my ultimate passion.
I want to bring awareness to the lack of diversity in ballet, and feel like that's a large part of my purpose.
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.
I grew up poor in San Pedro, California, sleeping on the floor of shady motels with my five siblings and not always sure when or where I'd get my next meal.
My family didn't have very much money, so ballet wasn't even on my radar; I just found it randomly when I was 13 at a Boys & Girls Club. We were practicing in a basketball court in gym clothes with some old socks on. Even though it terrified me at first, I found that I really liked it.
As a child, I had been told that I was exactly what a ballerina should be.
I have the opportunity, which most people don't experience nearly as much, of being in front of a mirror up to 10 hours a day. Staring at your body, you really get to know every little detail of how to make yourself look your best.
My favorite role of all? Whatever I'm working on in the moment.
Ballet was this thing that just felt so innate in me, like I was meant to be doing this.
Ballet became this escape for me. I feel like I was on my own a lot. I was searching for stability, so I was going off on my own and imagining what I thought stability was. Ballet became a way for me to cope.
Growing up, I was surrounded by R&B and Hip-Hop, and the closest thing I could find to dance was gymnastics which I watched on TV. So, I just used those avenues I found available right in my milieu to express what was inside of me.
Dance kind of was always just a part of my natural state as a child. It's something that, whenever music was playing, I was dancing.
I've always approached my career and my life, you know, one day at a time, as if this was the last day that I'm going, because you never know as an athlete and as a dancer. You never know what can happen today, tomorrow.
Though I have tremendous support from lots of people, there are so many others waiting to tear me down.
The classical ballet world is so exclusive and small, and a lot of people don't know about it.
I love heels. I'm 5-foot-2, and I like feeling tall.
I was on a path. I was going to become a principal dancer. I never let my mind rest.
Don't hold on to the barre like, 'I might die.' It's just ballet.
It's weird for minorities even just to buy tickets to the ballet. We feel like it's not a part of our lives and we're not a part of that world.
I say over and over again that I am just standing on the shoulders of so many who have set this path for me, and they may not be seen or recognized or have been given an opportunity to have a voice, but I'm here representing all of those dancers. Dance Theatre of Harlem Virginia Johnson, Tai Jimenez, Lauren Anderson.
My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I'm in my gym clothes and my socks trying to do this thing called ballet. I didn't know anything about it.
Finding ballet gave me passion for the first time in my life. I was always very shy and just wanted to fit in; I never daydreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. But dancing gave me a connection to my personality that made me grow.
I think American Ballet Theatre is setting that standard now for classical ballet, that you can dream big, and it doesn't matter what you look like, where you come from, what your background is.