Misty Copeland was already arguably the most famous ballet dancer in the United States. But this week, the 32-year-old made history: she became the first African American woman to be named principal dancer with the legendary American Ballet Theatre.
For Copeland, who just starred in the company's production of "Swan Lake" at the Met, it represents the culmination of a longtime dream — one she's repeated "like a mantra," but wasn't sure she'd ever achieve.
The dancer describes herself as an "unlikely ballerina" (it's the subtitle of her 2014 memoir), and it's true: whatever your ballet stereotypes, it's likely Copeland doesn't fit them. Here's how she went from "pretty much homeless" to dance superstar.
Misty Copeland was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1982. When she was 2, her parents divorced, and her mom, Sylvia, moved Copeland and her three older siblings to start over in Bellflower, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The next time she saw her biological father, she would be 22 and a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.
Copeland spent her childhood "dancing to Mariah Carey videos, rewatching a movie about the gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and being very prepared for school, where she was a hall monitor and the class treasurer," wrote Rivka Galchen in a 2014 New Yorker profile.
But she didn't take any formal gymnastics or dance classes until she was 13 — insanely late for a female ballet dancer. These kids are auditioning for the super prestigious School of American Ballet. They're between 6 and 10.
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