Misty Copeland

“Perseverance has always just been something that was in me. And it was a tool that came in very handy as a ballerina.”

“Ballet was so structured. I'd been craving something that could guide me.”

“Ballet was this thing that just felt so innate in me, like I was meant to be doing this.”

“I think most people think of ballerinas as kind of either as a fairytale, far-away thing that's really not attainable, something they can't grasp, or they think of them as European or Russian and kind of their nose up in the air. So, it's cool for me to, like, sit with them and for them to really see themselves as me.”

“Finding great training, I think, is number one. I did a lot of research and found really great teachers, and it just takes - I took a year off from school and did independent studies so that I could devote all of my time to it. But I think that training is the key, definitely, and it's not a sport.”

“Every time I step onto the stage, it's not only proving to the audience that I'm capable but to myself.”

“Before dance came into my life, I don't really remember having any major goals or dreams of wanting to be anything.”

“I've gotten nothing but warmth from the Black community and positive feedback.”

“I say over and over again that I am just standing on the shoulders of so many who have set this path for me, and they may not be seen or recognized or have been given an opportunity to have a voice, but I'm here representing all of those dancers. Dance Theatre of Harlem Virginia Johnson, Tai Jimenez, Lauren Anderson.”

“I don't eat a ton of pasta or bread. But I eat dessert almost every night, and I drink. You need a bit of balance, and I've found mine.”

“It's all so surreal, and I'm living my dream. And you know, principal or not, I'm getting to dance all the roles that I've dreamed of doing.”

“Don't hold on to the barre like, 'I might die.' It's just ballet.”

“I didn't want to be the best at anything; I just wanted to blend in. And that was kind of my existence throughout my family experiences at home of just kind of blending in in the background through my other siblings, which was easy to do.”

“A young girl reached out to me to be her mentor one day, which I didn't really know anything about. What I did remember was what it was to be alone as an African-American dancer in the ballet world and wanting to connect with someone who looks like me.”

“I was seventeen when I moved to New York. I was nineteen when I joined the main company. I was going through a lot. Just becoming an adult and just wanting to fit in, be accepted, and be in common with the other dancers.”

“Once you become a professional, to get through a ballet like 'Swan Lake' - four acts as the lead, changing character - the perseverance is incredible. It takes a lot to make it through and keep the same energy throughout the entire performance.”

“40 years old is about the time a principal dancer would start to think about retirement, but some go on to dance a little bit longer than that.”

“The classical ballet world is so exclusive and small, and a lot of people don't know about it.”

“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.”