Misty Copeland Makes History, Is Named First Black Principal Ballerina at American Ballet Theater

Dancer has been with the company since 2000

By Alyssa Toomey Jun 30, 2015 6:26 PMTags
Misty Copeland, Swan LakeDarren Thomas/QPAC

Congratulations, Misty Copeland

The 32-year-old ballet dancer received a historic promotion today when she was named the first black principal ballerina at American Ballet Theater. Copeland, who was previously named one of Time's 100 most influential people, is the first black principal ballerina in the company's 75 year history. 

"Thank you!!!" the gorgeous dancer tweeted today in response to the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the news. 

Copeland first joined ABT in 2000 before becoming a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001. She was appointed to soloist in August 2007, a position she held until her much-buzzed about promotion on Tuesday. 

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D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

During her time with ABT, Copeland performed as a soloist in a number of notable productions, including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Clara in The Nutcracker, and Princess Florine in Sleeping Beauty

Most recently, she made her debut in the double role as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, becoming the first African American to do so with the company at the Metropolitan Opera House. 

While Copeland's dancing credits are undeniably impressive, the ballerina, who began studying ballet at the age of 13, has also become a role model for young women, thanks to her ability to shift the stereotypical depictions of the ballet world. 

Her ad for Under Armour's "I Will What I Want" campaign, which she recorded last year, has been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube and the accompanying images showcase her incredible strength and muscular body. Additionally, she is also a best-selling author, having previously penned her memoir Life In Motion as well as the children's book Firebird

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"For me, it was a learning process of accepting that my body is my instrument, and I have to take care of it, and that it's okay to be healthy and athletic," she previously told Elle.com, "ABT supports that image, that you don't have to be anorexic and real thin, but you do have to take that responsibility [to take care of it].

"As an adult, an athlete, and a performer, your body has to be in a certain form," she continued. "But ABT is definitely setting that standard for a lot of the other elite international companies. You know, with the choreography that we're doing that's super athletic, our bodies are going to change and adapt. So they're going to have to accept our athletic bodies if they want us to do that type of movement!"

As for her thoughts on race while working in an industry with very little diversity? 

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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

"I think that it's harder for the ballet world to now exclude dancers of color as openly as they did in the past because of the focus that's being put on the lack of diversity in classical ballet," she said. "At least in my performances, the audience has become so diverse in a way that I don't think ballet has ever experienced. It's going to take a while before we see a real shift in the students and the dancers that are going into professional companies because it takes so many years of training, but I do think that there's a new crop of dancers, of minority dancers that are entering into the ballet world. I probably won't see them get opportunities in companies for another decade or so [because of training], but it's exciting." 

A number of celebs have also applauded Misty on social media for her accomplishment, including Solange Knowles and Mariah Carey.

Congrats, Copeland! Consider this sentence our standing ovation. 

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