Misty Copeland Quotes

I have the opportunity, which most people don’t experience nearly as much, of being in front of a mirror up to 10 hours a day. Staring at your body, you really get to know every little detail of how to make yourself look your best.

I had some really incredible people who mentored me and gave me things I never got from my parents.

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.

I know that I’m talented, and I know that I’m not in American Ballet Theater because I’m black – I’m here because I’m a gifted dancer.

I don’t want to be anything else other than a ballerina. I love what I do outside of my work, but at the end of the day, I have to sacrifice.

Ballet became this escape for me. I feel like I was on my own a lot. I was searching for stability, so I was going off on my own and imagining what I thought stability was. Ballet became a way for me to cope.

You have to be the one promoting yourself. If you don’t think that you’re worthy, you’re never going to make it.

I don’t feel like my life is that of a superstar! Every day I wake up, I take the train, I go to my ballet class. My everyday life is pretty normal.

I feel like with ‘On the Town,’ it was the perfect production and the perfect opportunity.

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.

I think that having a platform and having a voice to be seen by people beyond the classical ballet world has really been my power, I feel.

It’s going to take a while before we see a real shift in the students and the dancers that are going into professional companies because it takes so many years of training, but I do think that there’s a new crop of dancers, of minority dancers that are entering into the ballet world.

Finding ballet gave me passion for the first time in my life. I was always very shy and just wanted to fit in; I never daydreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. But dancing gave me a connection to my personality that made me grow.

Ballet found me, I guess you could say. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me. I would love to choreograph and dance around.

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.

It’s hard to change someone‘s ideas when they might not even really consciously know that they’re being racist, or have racist ideas, just because ballet has been this way for hundreds of years.

All you can do is be your best self. I’ve always felt that I had to be that much more aware of how I present myself. I’m representing more than just me. I think every person should think that way.

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.

When I was younger, my feet would hurt a lot, but you build up calluses and strength, and you don’t feel as much pain there. But then again, it’s a give and take. The older you get, you may feel pain in your back or your hips.

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.

My curves became an integral part of who I am as a dancer, not something I needed to lose to become one.

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.

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.

I’ve always approached my career and my life, you know, one day at a time, as if this was the last day that I’m going, because you never know as an athlete and as a dancer. You never know what can happen today, tomorrow.

I was definitely a late bloomer and didn’t really come into my own until I was probably in my 20s.

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.

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.

It’s weird for minorities even just to buy tickets to the ballet. We feel like it’s not a part of our lives and we’re not a part of that world.

Whenever there was chaos in my house, whether it was arguing, being in a cramped space with all of us kids and screaming, I found an empty space where I could just put music on and move.

I love heels. I’m 5-foot-2, and I like feeling tall.

Depending on the level you’re at in your company, the higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance.

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.

When I was dancing, I felt in control and happy. I’m a Virgo, so I really like to be in control.

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.

To be empathetic to everyone around you, I think, is such a powerful thing to hold.

That something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning of my career is I didn’t want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the… ballet. I wanted to be myself. I didn’t want to have to wear makeup that made my nose look thinner.

Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.

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.

My favorite role of all? Whatever I’m working on in the moment.

Finding ballet was like finding this missing piece of myself.

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.

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.

I had always been proud of my body – its strength and grace enabled me to pursue my passions.

Barack Obama being President of the United States doesn’t mean racism has disappeared. It’s all a process, and we have to be aware that the work never ends.

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

Ballet was so structured. I’d been craving something that could guide me.

Growing up, I was surrounded by R&B and Hip-Hop, and the closest thing I could find to dance was gymnastics which I watched on TV. So, I just used those avenues I found available right in my milieu to express what was inside of me.

I want the ballet world to be given the respect that it deserves and to be seen by more people – for so many to experience the beauty that I’ve received from the ballet world.

In the ballet studio, it was such an organized and disciplined environment, like I’d never had in my life. Seeing myself in the mirror, surrounded by the classical music, that’s when I started to fall in love with dance.

If I’m put in a situation where I am not really sure what’s going to happen, it can be overwhelming. I get a bit anxious.

I traced the marley floor with my pointe shoes, and imagine myself on the stage, not as a member of the corps, but as a principal dancer. It felt right. It felt like a promise. Some day, somehow, it was going to happen for me.

I wanted to open the dialogue about race in ballet and bring more people in. It’s just beautiful to see the interest that has exploded for such an incredible art form that I will forever be grateful to!

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.

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.

‘The Firebird’ just symbolizes a lot for me and my career. It was one of the first really big principal roles that I was ever given an opportunity to dance with American Ballet Theatre, and it was a huge step for the African-American community, I think, within the classical ballet world.

Being one of the few African American women to make it to this level in a classical ballet company, the level of American Ballet Theatre, takes a lot of perseverance.

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.

It’s a European art form, and you’re used to seeing a certain type of person as a ballerina. And I don’t look like a lot of the girls around me.

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 was on a path. I was going to become a principal dancer. I never let my mind rest.

The ballet world I don’t think is an art form that is quick to change or to adjust or evolve.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

What you put into your body is just as important as how hard you dance. I believe with the right training and an understanding of how to take care of your body, you can mold it to be whatever you want it to be.

I’ve gotten nothing but warmth from the Black community and positive feedback.

I think I’m pretty laid back. I like cooking, being at home, and going to concerts. And I love to shop!

I think, as a child, there weren’t dreams. I can’t recall as a child having some ultimate dream and thinking that it was possible.