News Digest

Play Misty for me: Black dancer makes US ballet company history

Misty Copeland has made history in the US after becoming the first African-American to be named principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. The 32-year-old held back tears as she spoke about her promotion, which she said was a lifetime dream, but such a difficult one to achieve that she never thought it would happen. “It hasn’t been overnight,” she said. "It’s been 14 years of extremely hard work … I’m just so extremely honoured to be an African-American and to be in this position.“

I had moments of doubting myself and wanting to quit because I didn’t know if there would be a future for an African-American woman at that level.

Ballet dancer Misty Copeland

Copeland added that she hoped her success would inspire "all the little girls” to follow their dreams. The company announced the promotion six days after Copeland made her New York debut in the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, one of the most important roles in a ballerina’s repertoire. Copeland has become increasingly famous over the past several years, achieving a pop culture status that’s extremely rare for a ballet dancer. She appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of the most influential figures of 2015, and wrote both a children’s book, Firebird, and a best-selling memoir, Life In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, which has been optioned for a movie.

So many young dancers of colour stop dancing at an early age because they just don’t think there will be a career path for them.

Misty Copeland