Oct. 22, trail-blazing ballerina Misty Copeland tied up her pointe shoes for the final time as she got ready to perform in American Ballet Theatre’s Fall Gala.
Copeland did not start dancing until she was 13 years old. In the world of ballet, this is considered late as practical training tends to start around 8 to 10 years old.
A few years later, in 1998, Copeland won first place at the Music Center Spotlight Awards at 15 years old. Before the finals of the competition, her competitor, Heather McGreevey, referred to Copland as being “nice” in an interview.
She went on to study at the San Francisco Ballet School. Following that with a full-ride scholarship, Copeland attended ABT’s Summer Intensive and earned ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000. Copeland officially joined ABT’s Company Studio in September 2000.
Copeland became ABT’s second Black female soloist in 2007, with two decades passing between the first, Anne Benna Sims, and Copeland.
In 2008, Copeland was awarded the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, a two-year fellowship meant to honor young artists with extraordinary talent.
Copeland made history in 2015 when she became ABT’s first Black woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT’s 75 years of existence. While holding a press conference at the Metropolitan Opera House at the time of the announcement, she shared the difficulties she has experienced.
“I had moments of doubting myself and wanting to quit because I didn’t know there would be a future for an African American woman to make it to this level,” Copeland said. “At the same time, it made me so hungry to push through, to carry the next generation. So, it’s not me up here — and I’m constantly saying that — it’s everyone that came before me that got me to this position.”
Despite being the principal dancer at ABT, Copeland has done plenty of performances outside of the theater, such as when she performed with Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards.
Before the AMA performance, Copeland was in Disney's "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" in 2018 as the Ballerina Princess.
Copeland took five years off dance before her farewell performance. She had to pull out of “Giselle” due to an injury right before the pandemic. Later, in 2022, she gave birth to her baby, further delaying her return.
Copeland has remained busy throughout the years with her Misty Copeland Foundation, which was founded in 2021. She has also been busy with her production company Life in Motion Productions, which was co-founded with two-time Emmy-winning writer and producer Leyla Fayyaz.
Copeland announced both her retirement as well as her farewell performance from ABT June 9.
Many stars came out to watch Copeland shine one last time, such as Oprah Winfrey, Jim Parsons and Star Jones.
Her final performances included a duet with Calvin Royal III of the Act I Balcony pas de deux from "Romeo and Juliet," the world premiere of "Wreka Stow" also with Royal as well as ABT company dancers and finally, she danced an expert from "Sinatra Suite" with Herman Cornejo.
During her exit interview with Dance Magazine, Copeland shared insight on her journey.
"It’s exciting to be part of such an incredible legacy of a company and of dancers that I’ve looked up to since I was 13 years old, and so I feel immensely grateful,” Copeland said.
Copeland’s current goal is to continue to try to make sure the dance community is reflected in a positive light.
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