Misty Copeland
I do think that it's a responsibility when there are so few of us as African Americans to kind of get to that place of success in a positive light. We should take a stance and stand for something and use that platform for positivity.Collection: Responsibility
I just want to leave a positive memory of setting an example and bringing our youth with us.Collection: Memories
I absolutely love what I do, and I want to dance for as long as I can and feel good about what I am putting out there on the stage.Collection: Long
I never knew I wanted to become a ballerina. I was discovered at the age of 13. I had a love for movement even though I had no exposure to dance other than what I saw in music videos, like hip-hop music videos. But I knew that I loved moving.Collection: Moving
I don't believe in dieting, I don't believe in having certain moments in your life where you're healthy and then moments when you're like, "I'm going to eat whatever I want." It's just finding what works for your body and always eating healthy.Collection: Believe
The fact that I was African American was never addressed, and that allowed me to just be a student, like anyone else. I was not aware of how rare it was to be an African American, how rare it was to have four years of training under my belt, and how, even though I could imitate people and fake it, unprepared I was to become a professional.Collection: Years
To be an artist and to be recognized by another artist who is, you know, just something you can't even put into words, someone that is so far beyond what the normal human being experience is in terms of creativity and originality. That was kind of a moment where I thought wow maybe I do have something more that makes me special.Collection: Creativity
I'm a classical ballet dancer, and at the end of the day I want to be with American Ballet Theater, performing classical ballets.Collection: Dancer
For me, I was in school and I pushed myself to be a good student, just because that's the type of person I was, but I never had a connection to any of it. I don't think my brain functioned in a way that was at its height, when I was in school. I needed something like art to really value the way my mind works. I wasn't reaching my full potential by sitting in a classroom and reading from a book. My mind didn't work that way.Collection: Art
My goal has always been to be a principal dancer with ABT.Collection: Goal
I shouldn't even be wearing a tutu. I don't have the right legs, my muscles are too big.Collection: Legs
When you see the body outside of a costume and see the strength that it takes, people would look at dance a different way and see how athletic it is. You're not just born like that.Collection: People
I know that I'll forever be involved in ballet. This is where my life was meant to be, and I don't see myself straying completely away, ever.Collection: Forever
Meeting Raven Wilkinson and having her as a mentor, it was that kind of support from the generations that came before me that helped to lift me up and give me the confidence to then be able to give back and bring other minorities with me on this journey.Collection: Journey
I do think Under Armour is setting a new example for what a ballerina is, and that you can be feminine and an athlete and represent what a woman is at the same time.Collection: Athlete
I think that I'm so fortunate to have found classical ballet. It completely changed my life and it shaped the person that I am today, on and off the stage.Collection: Thinking
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.Collection: Basketball
I absolutely love what I do. And I want to dance for as long as I can and feel good about what I'm putting out there on the stage. But my goal has always been to be a principal dancer with ABT. Before I knew that there had never been a black woman, that was always my goal. I wanted to dance Odette-Odile and Kitri and "Don Quixote" and Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty." So that's still my goal. But knowing that it's never been done before, I think makes me fight even harder.Collection: Sleep
Just as a child, before I ever knew what ballet was, there was something in me where I was always searching for something structured, something that was bigger than me, and something so historical that I could be a part of. I didn't find that until I stepped into the ballet world, and it was overwhelming, the feeling of being a part of something that's bigger than you.Collection: Children
Everything I was being shown was ABT, so I grew up watching these videos of [Mikhail] Baryshnikov, Gelsey [Kirkland] and Paloma [Herrera]. Paloma and Angel [Corella] were the first people I ever saw dance live.Collection: Angel
When people meet me in person, they're usually surprised at how petite I am because there's just [an] idea that because I'm black I just look a certain way.Collection: Ideas
Hopefully, I'll be a part of ABT, in some way, forever. I think I'll always be a part of ballet and try to push diversity, for as long as I live.Collection: Thinking
Going on stage and doing ballet, for the first time, was even more verification of, "This is what I'm meant to do. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to make it somehow."Collection: Ballet
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.Collection: Hurt
I don't think a lot of people really understand the commitment it takes to being a character that an actor in Hollywood would take to approaching a role that they're doing.Collection: Character
I know there are a lot of eyes on me now from young girls, and it makes me so proud. The only Black woman examples aren't Rihanna and Beyoncé. It makes me proud that I am a classical ballerina and they can look at me and see another way to succeed. That is setting a new standard.Collection: Girl
I believe I am yet to dance my favorite role, but I am pretty open to adapting to different characters. I would love to be Odette in Swan Lake one day. I think that would be the ultimate role.Collection: Believe
I was 17 when I moved to NYC . I'm now 32. But I do know I can't see myself living anywhere else. I love the food, the fashion, art, the intelligence of this city and the people that live in it.Collection: Fashion
Ballet is number one, everything else is scheduled in the small windows when I'm not in the studio taking class, rehearsing, on stage or on tour.Collection: Class
I try to consider people's perspectives and not just my own.Collection: People
In a ballet company, you're trying to create unison and uniform when you're in a cour de ballet.Collection: Ballet
I don't think every African-American or Latino have the same body type, but, yes, that's been one of the excuses ... saying that African-Americans are too muscular or just aren't lean enough. Usually they say, "Oh, they have flat feet so they just don't have the flexibility that it takes to create the line in a point shoe."Collection: Thinking
Without my mentors there is no Misty.Collection: Mentor
It takes a lot of money to be a part of the ballet world. Both the training and the supplies are expensive, the shoes, the leotards and the tights.Collection: Shoes
Ballet was exactly what I was searching for, but my environment definitely made me the dancer and the person that I am today. And the Hip-Hop culture was a big part of it.Collection: Hip Hop
Just to get into a company like ABT is a dream come true, but to have all of these opportunities on top of it, I don't think it will hit me until I'm 70. I'll be like, "Oh, my god, remember that amazing life you had?" It's an incredible honor to be a part of something like ABT.Collection: Dream
Physical fears change and shift depending on the role and depending on the mindset I'm in.Collection: Ballet
I definitely like to be natural and more relaxed and not wear a lot of makeup.Collection: Makeup
Once I became a professional, maybe 19 or 20, I really started to try to figure out who I was, as a woman and as an individual.Collection: Trying