Happy Friday! Motivational Friday from Misty Copeland 💃🏻 Learn more about Misty and her journey below
#repost @mistyonpointe
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#Repost @womenintheworld Misty Copeland arrived at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) via an untraditional path and became the first African-American prima ballerina in the company. One of six children raised in a family where food insecurity and frequent moves were a fact of life, @mistyonpointe came to ballet at the relatively late age of 13.
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“The moment I stepped into the ballet studio is the first time I came alive,” she told Robin Roberts in a conversation that leaped through her past, present and future. She started dancing at her local Boys and Girls Club, where, as she tells it, she was fortunate to be noticed by a mentor named Cindy Bradley. Under Bradley’s direction, Copeland underwent an intense four years of training, catching up to dancers who started when they were 3 years old.
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In that insulated training bubble, Copeland said, she had no distractions and—just as important—no idea what the dance world looked like. “They never said anything about the fact that I was a black girl and that there weren’t many of me,” Copeland said. “That wasn’t something I was conscious of during my vital years of training.”
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That bubble soon broke. Immediately after she finished high school, Copeland moved to New York City and started at ABT, to a rude awakening. In a company of 80 dancers, she was the only black woman. “This used to be the only place I felt I belonged and all of a sudden I was the odd black swan out,” she said. “I know how powerful it is to have representation. It’s literally changed the path of my life and my career.”
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Copeland has translated that experience into her work as a role model for other young girls—a task that she takes very seriously. She’s now working with ABT to start programs at Boys and Girls Clubs all across the country. #dancebrand #ridebrand #lifebrand #prodance #dance #hiphop #ballet #jazz #tap #modern #contemporarydance #pointe #competitiondance #dancer #dancelife #prodance #NBA #NFL #prouddancer #localpride #lovedance #evaigo #larkindancestudio #worldofdance
