Copeland becomes first African American woman to be named company’s principal dancer in defiance of personal injuries and institutional standards

American ballerina Misty Copeland has made history as the first black female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater, marking the culmination of her remarkable ascent in an industry that has long been faulted for its lack of diversity.

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Copeland, who has emerged as a powerful voice on race, has captivated the public’s attention both onstage and off. And now after 14 years with ABT, she has been appointed to the company’s highest rank – indeed, the highest in North American ballet.

American dance’s breakout star has appeared as a guest judge on Fox’s talent show So You Think You Can Dance, starred in a viral Under Armor ad and joined Prince on tour. She is also the subject of the documentary, A Ballerina’s Tale, about her prodigious achievements in defiance of personal injuries and institutional standards, which debuted at Tribeca Film Festival in April.

“Based on body type, pedigree and background I should not have been a part of one of the world’s greatest ballet companies,” Copeland says in the film’s trailer.



She was raised in San Pedro, California, where she started her ballet career at age 13 – far too late to begin a professional dance career, she was told. But her late start did not hold her back.

Copeland joined ABT studio company in 2000 and less than a year later joined the main company as a member of the corps de ballet. In 2007, she was appointed a soloist, alighting the stage as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. In 2012, while dancing in the title role of Stravinsky’s Firebird, she suffered a serious injury.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Misty Copeland at the Time 100 Gala in New York in April. She was named one of the most influential people of the year. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

Copeland is open about her pioneering role, using her success to spotlight issues that strike at the heart of the classical ballet world: the lack of women of color at major companies and the rigid body standards for women.

After Copeland took the stage as the company’s first African American swan queen, she told Vanity Fair magazine: “To be the first African American woman to dance this role with American Ballet Theatre is a huge step for the ballet world and I take on this opportunity with tremendous care and understanding of what it means for the growth of this art form.”

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She currently serves on Barack Obama’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2015. She has written a bestselling memoir and a children’s book.

In her book, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, Copeland says of her rise: “They came to see things my way, that my curves are part of who I am as a dancer, not something I need to lose to become one.”