Misty Copeland: Ballerina. Activist. Icon.

Early Life

Misty Copeland was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 10, 1982. When she was two years old, she, her mother, and her five siblings moved to San Pedro, California. Life wasn’t always easy for Misty and her family. Her mother worked multiple jobs, and the family often stayed in a motel room.

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At age thirteen, Misty joined the drill team at her middle school, and her coach recommended that she learn ballet at the Boys & Girls Club. From there, she enrolled at the San Pedro Ballet school. During this time, Cynthia Bradley, her ballet teacher at the Boys & Girls Club, housed her to support her ballet studies. At only fifteen years old, Misty received the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award for her outstanding dancing. She won a full scholarship to and briefly attended the San Francisco Ballet School, but she returned home early after a custody disagreement between her mother and the Bradleys.

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Misty applied to many ballet companies, but most turned her down. One admissions officer even wrote that she did not have the “right” body for ballet. However, Copeland persisted, and her determination paid off. In 2000, she won a scholarship to dance in American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive. Recognizing her talent, ABT named her their National Coca-Cola Scholar and invited her to join their Studio Company.

At the ABT Studio Company, Misty faced intense competition and aggression from white dancers. In spite of this, she continued to work hard. Her determination, technique, and artistry eventually propelled her to stardom.

Ballet Star

In 2001, Copeland joined American Ballet Theatre as a corps de ballet member. For over ten years, she was the only Black ballerina in the company.

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In 2007, she was promoted to soloist, becoming the second Black woman soloist in the company’s history and the first in over twenty years. During this time, she performed as Firebird in Firebird and Clara in The Nutcracker, both choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky. In 2013, reflecting on how a lack of representation had slowed her own start in ballet, Copeland launched Project Plié to support young BIPOC dancers and help them gain recruitment opportunities with ballet companies.

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In 2014, she performed as Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, becoming the first Black woman in history to dance those roles with ABT. The following year, in 2015, Copeland was promoted to principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, becoming the first Black principal ballerina in the company’s 75-year history. She went on to perform leading roles in Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, and La Fille mal gardée, among others.

Copeland also made appearances beyond the ballet world. She performed on Broadway in On the Town, appeared at the American Music Awards and the Grammy Awards, and danced in the Disney film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. In fall 2025, she gave her farewell performance as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, dancing to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra and officially retiring from ABT.

Impact

In the ballet world, Copeland not only broke barriers as the first Black principal ballerina at a premier ballet company, but she also redefined what it means to be a ballerina. While captivating audiences with her strength and artistry onstage, she also advocated for expanded access to the arts offstage. She openly shared her experiences, including having to dye her pointe shoes to match her skin tone, and worked to bring arts education to lower-income communities.

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Her success has influenced other ballet companies to diversify their ranks, including the promotion of India Bradley as the first Black soloist in the history of New York City Ballet. Copeland’s visibility has helped shift the narrative around who belongs in classical ballet.

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Beyond dance, Copeland is also an accomplished author and performer. In 2014, she published her bestselling autobiography, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, along with the children’s book Firebird. She later authored Bunheads, Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy, The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven Wilkinson, and Bunheads, Act 2: The Dance of Courage. She also co-founded Life in Motion Productions with Leyla Fayyaz to improve representation in the arts. In 2023, they produced the short film Flower, which explores gentrification, housing insecurity, and the importance of art and community.

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Over the years, Copeland has received numerous honors for both her artistry and activism. In 2012, she was inducted into the Boys & Girls Club National Hall of Fame and later became a National Youth of the Year Ambassador. She received honorary doctorates from the University of Hartford and New York University. In 2015, TIME magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People. In 2021, the NAACP awarded her the prestigious Spingarn Medal for extraordinary achievement.

In 2021, she founded the Misty Copeland Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to making dance more inclusive and fostering safe teaching environments. Through programs like BE BOLD, BE BOLD Next Steps, and BE BOLDER, the foundation provides ballet education and mentorship to BIPOC children and adults, helping expand access to dance training and artistic opportunity.

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Although Misty Copeland has retired from ballet, she continues to make the art form more accessible and inspire the next generation of dancers.

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Sources

About. (n.d.). The Misty Copeland Foundation. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/be-bold-program/about-be-bold/

About BE BOLDNext Steps. (n.d.). The Misty Copeland Foundation. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/be-bold-next-steps/about-be-bold-next-steps/

admin. (2015, April 16). Misty Copeland Named to Time Magazine’s Annual TIME 100 List. American Ballet Theatre. https://www.abt.org/misty-copeland-named-to-time-magazines-annual-time-100-list/

       Asmelash, L. (2025, October 25). Misty copeland permanently changed ballet and the

arts. now she’s ready for her next challenge. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/style/misty-copeland-retirement-cec. 

Awards | NAACP. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2026, from https://naacp.org/find-resources/scholarships-awards-internships/awards

BE BOLDER - The Misty Copeland Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/programs/about-be-bolder/

Discover Misty’s journey. (n.d.). Misty Copeland. Retrieved https://mistycopeland.com/about-2/

Francis Enjoli. (2015, June 30). Misty Copeland is American Ballet Theatre’s first Black female principal dancer. ABC News. https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/misty-copeland-american-ballet-theatres-black-female-principal/story?id=32137011

Home. (n.d.). The Misty Copeland Foundation. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/

Life in Motion Productions by Misty Copeland & Leyla Fayyaz. (n.d.). Life in Motion. Retrieved February 16, 2026, from https://www.lifeinmotionstudios.com

Lydia Murray. (2025, October 1). Misty Copeland: The exit interview. Dance Magazine. https://dancemagazine.com/misty-copeland-retirement-interview/#gsc.tab=0

Misty Copeland. (n.d.-a). Misty Copeland. Retrieved https://mistycopeland.com/

Misty Copeland: From Kid Raised in Motel Room to Principal Ballerina With Broadway Show Gig. (n.d.-b). ABC News. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/misty-copeland-kid-raised-motel-room-principal-ballerina/story?id=32600429

Murray, L. (2023, July 12). Misty Copeland’s New Film, Flower, Explores Inequity and Celebrates Community. Pointe Magazine. https://pointemagazine.com/misty-copeland-film-flower/

N, P, & R. (2013, September 27). Project Plié: Bringing Color To Ballet’s Corps. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2013/09/27/226832080/project-plie-bringing-color-to-ballets-corps

Teaching Artists. (n.d.). The Misty Copeland Foundation. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/be-bold-program/teaching-artists/

The Need. (n.d.). The Misty Copeland Foundation. Retrieved February 14, 2026, from https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/be-bold-program/the-need/

The Official Website of Misty Copeland. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2026, from https://mistycopeland.com