Dancing with purpose
Misty Copeland’s rise in the ballet world fueled by dreams, desire, determination
Misty Copeland is a hero to a new generation of young girls and aspiring ballerinas.
That she’s a black woman in a mostly white world is part of her story.
That she grew up poor and started dancing at age 13, too old by industry standards, adds to the complexity.
“I feel like I’m celebrating and sharing in this moment because it stands for so many generations before me and so many to come,” said the first African-American woman to be named principal dancer with New York’s prestigious American Ballet Theater. “Our history in the ballet world isn’t there.”
The 32-year-old dancer spoke recently to 2,000 people, including girls in tutus and teens in dancewear, at the Kingdom Builder’s Center in southwest Houston. She was joined on stage by Houstonian Lauren Anderson, the first African-American ballerina to become a principal for a major dance company. That was the
Houston Ballet, in 1990.
The two women shared their stories of triumph — over discrimination and body-image issues.
“I wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than me, and I needed something that was going to give me a voice,” Copeland said. “I feel like ballet filled all of those things that I just needed as a child.”
Darlette Johnson Bailey, owner of Kids in Dance Studio, brought more than 50 students in yellow tutus to see Copeland and Anderson. “I want them to witness and see with their own eyes this is reachable,” said Bailey, who taught dance to a young Beyoncé. “You have to be committed and learn how to work hard. I had tears in my eyes hearing their stories. They are my girls’ stories.”
Copeland — whose muscular body is chiseled and lean — starred in Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” ad, which has had 9 million views online. The spot for the athletic-gear company begins with a voice-over of a young girl reading a rejection letter — “You have the wrong body for ballet. And at 13, you are too old to be considered” — as Copeland defiantly leaps in the air.
Her 2014 memoir, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina,” became a New York Times best-seller and has been optioned for a movie. She also wrote a children’s book, “Firebird,” with illustrator Christopher Myers. It’s named for one of her first major roles with ABT.
She graced the cover of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” this year. And for two weeks, starting Aug. 25, she will join the cast of “On the Town” on Broadway.
“Right now, I’m trying to memorize lines, which is so foreign to me,” Copeland said. “We get so used to using our bodies, it just becomes second nature. Memorizing lines is using a completely different part of your brain. That’s a little scary.” Early years
Copeland, who was born in Kansas City and raised in San Pedro, Calif., grew up one of five children living with their single mother. She was small and shy but loved music and dancing, and started taking ballet through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Today, she’s working with ABT’s Project Plié, an initiative with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to increase ethnic diversity in ballet.
“When I started, I had a very ideal body for ballet. But then I went through puberty and gained 10 pounds,” Copeland said. “It took an understanding and a fight to get my body to conform in a healthy way. I’m very muscular, and I bulk easily. That’s not considered the ideal type of body for ballet.”
Anderson, 50, says her muscular build also was an issue at the start of her career.
“We have the same body type,” Anderson said. “We both worked
every day to change our bodies and conform. You have to have the attitude, ‘I‘m going to get where you want me to be and dance so well you are going to have to do something.’ ”
Copeland remembers Anderson on the cover of Dance magazine.
“Growing up, I was fully aware I was black,” she said. “Seeing Lauren on the cover knocked me out of my seat because that’s not what you see as a dancer. It helped make
me a stronger dancer.”
The two women, who held hands and laughed like girlfriends, talked about their admiration for each other.
When Copeland performed as a soloist in “Swan Lake” last fall in New York, she gave Anderson an airline ticket to come see her.
In the New York Times’ review of that performance, Alastair Macaulay wrote: “When Misty Copeland made her New York debut in the double role of Odette/ Odile in ‘Swan Lake,’ the most epic role in world ballet, two aspects of the performance ... proved marvelous. One: that it all happened successfully. Two: the curtain calls.”
Practice, practice, practice
Copeland has a grueling schedule: nine-houra-day practices Tuesday through Sunday. When she’s performing, her practices stretch up to 13 hours a day, six days a week.
To stay at this level of fitness, she swims, does Pilates and makes regular visits to a massage therapist or chiropractor.
“I really don’t have days off,” she said. “If I’m traveling and I get to the gym, I’m in the corner giving myself a ballet class.”
She also doesn’t eat meat, only fish, and sticks to healthful fare, except for the occasional Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers.
“What you put into the body is half the battle,” she said.
She talked about her passions: traveling, cooking and concerts.
“She’s normal,” Anderson said, with Copeland by her side. “Stay true to yourself and be real and honest in your dancing. Stay Misty. Can’t nobody do Misty like Misty.”