Misty Copeland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Misty Copeland
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Copeland in 2013
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| Born |
Misty Danielle Copeland
September 10, 1982 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
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| Education | San Pedro High School |
| Occupation | Ballet dancer |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Olu Evans
(m. 2016) |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Taye Diggs (cousin-in-law) |
| Current group | American Ballet Theatre |
Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an African American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.
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Early life
Copeland was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Sylvia DelaCerna and Doug Copeland. She was raised in the San Pedro community of Los Angeles, California. Her father is of German and African American descent. Her mother is of Italian and African American ancestry and was adopted by African American parents.
Copeland is the youngest of four children from her mother's second marriage and has two younger half-siblings, one each from her mother's third and fourth marriages. Her mother, a former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader, had studied dance.
Copeland never studied ballet or gymnastics formally until her teenage years. Following in the footsteps of her older sister Erica, Copeland became captain of the Dana Middle School drill team, where her natural grace came to the attention of its classically trained coach, Elizabeth Cantine.
Taking up ballet
In early 1996, Cantine convinced Copeland to attend a ballet class at her local Boys & Girls Club. Cynthia Bradley, a friend of Cantine's, taught a free ballet class at the club once a week. Copeland attended several classes as a spectator before participating. Her mother let her go to the club after school until the workday ended.
Soon after Bradley invited Copeland to attend class at her small ballet school, San Pedro Dance Center. Copeland initially declined the offer, because she had to help her mother to take care of her siblings. Copeland began her ballet studies at the age of 13 at the San Pedro Dance Center when Cynthia Bradley began picking her up from school. After three months of study, Copeland was en pointe.
Copeland wanted to give up ballet, as the school was too far from her house, but Bradley wanted Copeland to continue. She offered the girl to move in with her and her family. Eventually, Copeland and her signed a management contract and a life-story contract with Bradley. Copeland would spend most of her next three years with the Bradleys.
Ballet prodigy
Copeland was considered a prodigy. By the age of fourteen, Copeland was the winner of a national ballet contest and won her first solo role. She read a lot about ballet and watched videos. She performed as Clara in The Nutcracker at the San Pedro High School after only eight months of study. This fact attracted media attention to her.
She played a larger role as Kitri in Don Quixote at the San Pedro Dance Center and then performed with the L.A. Academy of Fine Arts in a featured role in The Chocolate Nutcracker, an African American version of the tale, narrated by Debbie Allen. The latter was presented at UCLA's Royce Hall. Copeland's role was modified especially for her, and included ethnic dances.
In addition to Bradley's intensive ballet training, her husband, a modern-dance teacher, served as Copeland's pas-de-deux instructor and partner. The summer before her fifteenth birthday, Bradley began to homeschool Copeland for 10th grade to free up more time for dance.
At fifteen years old, Copeland won first place in the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards at the Chandler Pavilion in March 1998. The winners received scholarships between $500 and $2500. Copland was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as the best young dancer in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Custody battle
Copeland returned to her mother's home. The two frequently argued. Her mother decided that Copeland would cease study with the Bradleys. Copeland was distraught with fear that she would not be able to dance. She wanted to become independent from her mother and filed the emancipation petition with the advice of the Bradleys.
In 1998, her ballet teachers, who were serving as her custodial guardians, and her mother, fought a custody battle over her. Both sides dropped legal proceedings, and Copeland moved home to begin studying under a new teacher, who was a former ABT member.
After two summer workshops with ABT, she became a member of ABT's Studio Company in 2000 and its corps de ballet in 2001, and became an ABT soloist in 2007.
American Ballet Theatre
Copeland the only black woman in the company. She felt the burden of her ethnicity in many ways. Recognizing that Copeland's isolation and self-doubt were standing in the way of her talent, ABT's artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, asked writer and arts figure Susan Fales-Hill, then vice-chair of ABT's Board of Directors, to mentor Copeland. Fales-Hill introduced Copeland to black women trailblazers who encouraged Copeland and helped her to gain perspective.
Copeland was appointed a soloist at ABT in August 2007, one of the youngest ABT dancers promoted to soloist.
As of 2008, Copeland was the only African-American woman in the dance company during her entire ABT career. The only male African American in the company during her career, Danny Tidwell, left in 2005. In an international ballet community with a lack of diversity, she was so unusual as an African American ballerina that she endured cultural isolation. She has been described in the press as the Jackie Robinson of classical ballet.
On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African-American woman to be promoted to principal ballerina in ABT's 75-year history. Copeland's achievement was groundbreaking, as there have been very few African-American principal ballerinas at major companies.
In 2017, she appeared as a guest artist with La Scala Theatre Ballet when it visited Southern California.
Personal life
Copeland and her husband, attorney Olu Evans, live on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The couple were introduced to each other around 2004 by Evans' cousin, Taye Diggs, and disclosed their engagement in a 2015 cover story in Essence magazine. They married in California on July 31, 2016. They have one child, a son born in 2022.
Interesting facts about Misty Copeland
- Copeland never studied ballet or gymnastics formally until her teenage years, but in her youth she enjoyed choreographing flips and dance moves to Mariah Carey songs.
- When she was seven, she saw the film Nadia on television and its subject Nadia Comăneci became her new role model.
- When she saw Paloma Herrera, a principal ballerina with ABT, perform at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Copeland began to idolize her as much as she did Mariah Carey.
- In March 2009, Copeland filmed a music video with Prince for a cover of "Crimson and Clover".
- She began taking acting lessons in 2009.
- In addition to her dance career, Copeland has become a public speaker, celebrity spokesperson and stage performer.
- She has written two autobiographical books and narrated a documentary about her career challenges, A Ballerina's Tale.
- In 2011, she was featured in the Season 1, episode 5 of the Hulu web series A Day in the Life.
- Copeland was a guest judge for the 11th season of FOX's So You Think You Can Dance.
- She released a memoir in 2014, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, co-authored by Charisse Jones.
- Her 2014 children's picture book, titled Firebird, with illustrator Christopher Myers, has a message of empowerment for young people of color. She released a children's book, Bunheads, in 2020.
- She performed on Broadway in On the Town, toured as a featured dancer for Prince and appeared on the reality television shows A Day in the Life and So You Think You Can Dance.
- Copeland was included in the 2015 International Best Dressed List, published by Vanity Fair.
- In 2017, Copeland released the book Ballerina Body, a health and fitness guide.
- Copeland dances the lead ballerina role in the 2018 Disney film, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, based on the 1816 story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King".
- She has endorsed products and companies such as T-Mobile, Coach, Inc., Dr Pepper, Seiko, The Dannon Company and Under Armour.
- In 2015, Copeland appeared on the cover of Time, making her the first dancer on the cover since Bill T. Jones in 1994.
- Copeland enjoys cooking.
- In 2016, Mattel created a Misty Copeland Barbie doll.
Misty Copeland quotes
- “I knew that I just didn't have it in me to give up, even if I sometimes felt like a fool for continuing to believe.”
- “Start unknown, finish unforgettable.”
- “I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.”
- “Knowing that it has never been done before makes me want to fight even harder.”
- “Decide what you want. Declare it to the world. See yourself winning. And remember that if you are persistent as well as patient, you can get whatever you seek.”
- “Don’t underestimate yourself. You are more capable than you think.”
Honors
- In 2008, Copeland won the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, which funds study with master teachers and trainers outside of ABT.
- In 2013, she was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
- In 2014, Copeland was named to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford for her contributions to classical ballet and helping to diversify the art form.
- Copeland was a Dance Magazine Awards 2014 honoree.
- After her promotion as principal dancer, Copeland was named one of Glamour's Women of the Year for 2015; one of ESPN's 2015 Impact 25 athletes and influencers who have made the greatest impact for women in sports.
- In 2016, Copeland won a Shorty Award for Best in Dance in Social Media.
- In 2021, the NAACP awarded to Copeland its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal.
- On May 17, 2023, Copeland received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from New York University.
Images for kids
See also
In Spanish: Misty Copeland para niños
- List of dancers
