CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Breaking boundaries and fighting racism are all in a day's work for pioneering ballerina Misty Copeland

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: At age 13, Misty Copeland was an anxious teen in stocking feet, shorts and a T-shirt taking her first ballet class on a basketball court at a Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, Calif.

Twenty-two years later, she’s a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre — the first African-American woman to rise to such ranks in the history of the elite New York City company.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ballet is such an interesting art form because even when it thinks it's being inclusive it's not. Misty Copeland is a very clear outlier in this situation. She is a pioneer for black people in this art form in the truest sense of the word.
I must admit that even though I am nothing of a ballerina this story almost brought a tear to my eyes. The picture of Eden, the little black girl, gave me so much hope and filled me with the sense of everlasting joy that I get from seeing other black people happy. Misty Copeland and the legacy she will leave behind on ballet is the kind of thing that I can't wait to tell my children about.
As long as people like Misty Copeland are doing the good work of fighting racism and advocating body and race diversity in ballet, I think all of us can work a little bit harder to push against marginalization of our peers a little bit harder.