When people meet me in person, they’re usually surprised at how petite I am because there’s this idea that because I’m black, I just look a certain way. – Misty Copeland
It’s hard to be the one that stands out when, you know, in a ballet company, you’re trying to create unison and uniform when you’re in a corps de ballet. – Misty Copeland
I think all dancers are control freaks a bit. We just want to be in control of ourselves and our bodies. That’s just what the ballet structure, I think, kind of puts inside of you. – Misty Copeland
I was on a path. I was going to become a principal dancer. I never let my mind rest. – Misty Copeland
I think American Ballet Theatre is setting that standard now for classical ballet, that you can dream big, and it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, what your background is. – Misty Copeland
Most ballerinas take their first ballet class when they are 5 or 6 years old. I was 13 when I took mine on the basketball court of the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club in California. – Misty Copeland
Something happens when you feel that energy and excitement from the audience. And you do, I don’t know, four pirouettes. You jump higher than you ever have. And it’s just this really magical thing that happens in those moments. – Misty Copeland
I think I get almost every piece of clothing that I buy altered and taken in just to fit me exactly the way it should. – Misty Copeland
There are no taking days off. There are no distractions. If I had that, I physically wouldn’t be capable of going onstage and performing live theater. It’s extremely demanding. I have to be in ballet class every day. – Misty Copeland
I would have young dancers come to me and ask me questions and want to know what my experiences were like: ‘What’s it like being a black dancer?’ So I just felt like it was necessary for me to share my experiences with them. – Misty Copeland
When I was a little girl, I was incredibly shy. My hope was to blend in, to fit in, to not be noticed in any significant way. I was deeply insecure and unsure of myself. – Misty Copeland
Before dance came into my life, I don’t really remember having any major goals or dreams of wanting to be anything. – Misty Copeland
My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I’m in my gym clothes and my socks trying to do this thing called ballet. I didn’t know anything about it. – Misty Copeland
I didn’t care how much work it would take, and I didn’t see the time invested as a waste or like I was missing out on anything. Ballet became my ultimate passion. – Misty Copeland
I was the first person in my family who was ever interested in dance, or fine art of any kind for that matter – I came from a very humble beginning in San Pedro, California. – Misty Copeland
I wake up every morning, and I go to ballet class no matter what’s going on the night before. That’s my priority, and that’s what makes me feel sane and not removed from the realities of my world. – Misty Copeland
Being in ballet class, being on the stage, being surrounded by my peers at American Ballet Theater every day, keeps me so humble and grounded. Being in ballet class, I feel, is like this meditation for me every morning. – Misty Copeland
I never thought of myself as special or particularly good at anything. But once I started ballet, suddenly I had a new identity: prodigy. – Misty Copeland
Though I have tremendous support from lots of people, there are so many others waiting to tear me down. – Misty Copeland
I am a black woman, and my experiences would not be what they are if I wasn’t. I’m so happy to share those experiences for other people to be able to learn from them. – Misty Copeland
My curves became an integral part of who I am as a dancer, not something I needed to lose to become one. – Misty Copeland
I grew up poor in San Pedro, California, sleeping on the floor of shady motels with my five siblings and not always sure when or where I’d get my next meal. – Misty Copeland
There are hundreds of stories I’ve heard from black women from my generation, generations before me, and the next, that have never been given an opportunity to fulfill their dreams. – Misty Copeland
Being the only African American at this level in American Ballet Theater, I feel like people are looking at me, and it’s my responsibility for me to do whatever I can to provide these opportunities in communities to be able to educate them. – Misty Copeland
Ballet was this thing that just felt so innate in me, like I was meant to be doing this. – Misty Copeland
