__Misty Copeland is a Woman of the Year because… "She's blazed her own path—and proven that you don't have to bend to society's expectations because you look a certain way." __
—*actress Kerry Washington, 2013 Woman of the Year *
On Top of the World: "Finding ballet was like finding this missing piece of myself," says Copeland, photographed 25 stories high in New York City. J. Mendel dress. Fallon earrings.
Some moments in history start out very ordinary. June 30 was a Tuesday, and Misty Copeland, in a yellow leotard, headed to her usual company class at American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Afterward, artistic director Kevin McKenzie told her to "take a bow": She had been promoted to principal dancer, the first African American ballerina to reach that level in the elite classical ballet company's 75-year history. Hillary Clinton and Prince both tweeted their congratulations; "Finally," wrote *The Washington Post.*As a little girl, Copeland, now 33, didn't exactly dream of breaking barriers. Born the fourth of six children, she was raised in San Pedro, California, by her mom and stepfathers. At one point the family struggled: They moved into a motel, where Copeland and her siblings slept on the floor. But it was during this time that a teacher suggested Copeland try dance at the local Boys & Girls Clubs of America. She was 13 and felt completely out of her element at that first class, but she remembers the teacher telling her, "I've never seen anyone as naturally talented as you." Soon she was hooked. "In the ballet studio, it was such an organized and disciplined environment, like I'd never had in my life," Copeland says. "Seeing myself in the mirror, surrounded by the classical music, that's when I started to fall in love with dance." She knew she had a lot to learn—she was a decade beyond the age at which most professionals begin their training—but she worked hard to catch up. At age 17, right after graduating high school, she joined the studio division of ABT, her dream company; by 19 she was performing with its corps de ballet. Then, only months into her professional career, Copeland underwent late-onset puberty, and her frame morphed from the tiny ballet ideal to curvy and muscular. Company directors told her to "lengthen"—lose weight, in balletspeak. Suddenly her strong body, the very instrument that had brought her so far, was the thing she feared would hold her back. The discomfort she felt in her physicality heightened her awareness of something else: her race. She'd gotten used to being the only woman of color in the room, but now she was aware she looked even more different from the dancers around her. "And that, in the ballet world, is not acceptable," she says. "I felt lost." As her body continued to change, Copeland watched coveted lead roles go to other dancers. Dejected, she nearly left ABT. "But I couldn't do it," she says. "It felt like failure if I let them put me in this box."
She redoubled her training and reached out to ABT's leadership. "I just said to them, 'What do I need to do? I am so eager. I am so hungry. I want to continue to push myself,' " she recalls. McKenzie took notice. "Misty was very gifted," he says. "And as she matured, her ability to access her talent increased exponentially." In 2012 she was offered her first title role, in the notoriously demanding Firebird. Critics praised her "hypnotizing" debut, but the pain in her left leg that she'd pushed through in rehearsals turned out to be six stress fractures. She withdrew for the season; doctors told her she might never perform again. But Copeland refused to believe that would be her future. "I was on a path. I was going to become a principal dancer. I never let my mind rest," even after a metal plate was inserted into her leg and she began intensive physical therapy to recover, she says. "I kept dancing inside."
There was another reason she didn't give up: "Generations of black women and men didn't have a fair chance in the ballet world; it's still difficult to be 'other,' " she says. "Understanding that made me want to speak up and represent what so many couldn't." A year later she returned to the stage—and started embracing her role model status. Her memoir, Life in Motion, made the New York Times best-seller list; her "I Will What I Want" commercial for Under Armour went viral; and she's doing all she can to reach communities with little exposure to ballet. In an upcoming Oxygen documentary series, she'll coach young dancers from all over the country, and, coming full circle from that first class in the local gym 20 years ago, she now mentors young members of the Boys & Girls Clubs. "What drives Misty is her desire to see the face of ballet change," says McKenzie. "She wants ballet to be a reflection of the American public."
Copeland knows that change starts with young girls (and boys), in the studio, falling in love. "I'm not creating a fad," she says. "I don't want people to pay attention to dance just because they read about this black ballerina. What I want is for people to realize how beautiful classical ballet is, how incredible it can be for a child. Art changes lives—I am proof of that."
HER WORDS TO LIVE BY: "Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you."
Alex Morris is a contributing editor for New York magazine.
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