Misty Copeland: The first African-American prima ballerina of the American Ballet Theatre!

The 32-year-old has managed to overcome all obstacles with her talent - her very athletic body and the color of her skin - and become the first prima ballerina in one of the top three ballets in the United States. "We haven't had a ballet dancer who has gone so against popular culture since the time of Mikhail Baryshnikov," said author and former editor of Dance Magazine Wendy Perron upon hearing the news about Copland.

 

 Born in Kansas, Copland joined the American Ballet Theatre in 2001 and has been performing solo roles since 2007. She recently led the ballet in “Swan Lake,” with all eyes on her. “Being in “Swan Lake” is something I never dreamed of. It’s incredible to be the black swan,” she told the BBC, immediately after her appearance on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, emphasizing that: “It’s important to talk about the existence of a black woman in the very white world of American Ballet.”

In recent years, she has become known outside of ballet. She has appeared in commercials and television shows, and she wrote her memoir, "Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina," which became a bestseller. Her life was the subject of a documentary, "A Ballerina's Tale," and she graced the cover of TIME magazine.