Misty Copeland on how to ‘keep dancing’ through challenges 

Before the curtain rises, you’ll find world-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland alone on the stage. She may be acclaimed for creating transcendent experiences for audiences over the past 25 years. Still, these moments are her favorite. She orients her body to the space and quietly moves through parts of the ballet.  “It’s a way to get grounded,” she says. “It’s almost like going back to my beginnings—in that the stage was always that place where I could forget about my problems and things at home. It’s like going back to that innocence and vulnerability. To be able to go back and tap into that before you go on stage and perform is so, so special.”  Copeland took her first ballet class on a basketball court at the Boys and Girls Club when she was 13 while living with her mom and five siblings in a motel. Sixteen years later, she became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history and continues to make a transformative difference as an artist, author, and activist.  The stage is sacred for Copeland. Still, the impact she makes off it fulfills her even more, most recently with the launch of The Misty Copeland Foundation in 2022. Inspired by her own experience, they created BE BOLD: an afterschool program for children of color that not only makes ballet and other dance forms accessible but offers mentoring, tutoring, music, and well-being education. Here, Copeland discusses finding beauty in the journey, how she “keeps dancing” through challenges, and why her purpose has always been “bigger than ballet.”  This interview has been edited for length and clarity. [Photo: Rosalie o’Connor] Fast Company: You described the deep internal knowing you felt when you began ballet when you said: “I don’t think I really understood, but I knew there was no way I could go another day without doing it.” First, what do you consider that feeling to be and have you felt it again? Then, how do you stay connected to your intuition and what role does it play in your art and life? Misty Copeland: Intuition has been what has led me and been the driving force for me. You talked about me being a young girl and feeling like: I have no idea what this world is. I don’t know what a career looks like [or] what issues and problems could be ahead. But, I knew deep down inside that I’d never experienced anything like it in terms of freedom, creativity, and safety. So, I’ve always followed that intuition throughout my career. I’ve been talking about this more recently, that I never thought I would find anything else in my life that gave me that same sense of belonging and love—something that you give so much of yourself [to] and hopefully other people will receive something from it as well. I’ve been given that feeling through the foundation and program I started. It’s seeing an opportunity that’s given to people who come from similar backgrounds as me—who wouldn’t have the access or opportunity otherwise—that [is] giving them joy in their lives, [where] maybe there might not be any. That’s what I’ve always felt; Even with all the work, I’ve always held onto the joy it brings me. Of course, I’m not saying every day is this bright and amazing experience. But, when you have that at the root of the why—and you can remind or ask yourself that every day—you find a way to get to that place during the day. I always said to myself: If there ever comes a day where I’m no longer feeling that same type of joy, then why am I doing it? I shouldn’t be on stage anymore. Again, going back to that intuition, I’m still a principal dancer at ABT. I haven’t been on stage for four years. Right before the pandemic, I got to that point where I was dealing with an injury and wanted to grow my family, but it was also, like: There’s something else I need to do, because there’s something that’s shifted for me in stepping onto the stage. I will be on stage again. I know it, and it will probably look very different from what my career has been for almost 25 years. Right now, that joy is still in ballet—and it’s still connected to giving, young people, and telling stories—but it’s just in a different way.  To discuss a different form of storytelling, you often underscore that storytelling is the heart of your art form and asked a powerful question: “How do you tell a story when you’re not able to use voice, dialogue, or words—all through [a] technique that a majority of the people don’t know?” How do you answer that question and then become your characters in a way that feels ethereal?  It’s all rooted in honesty . . . To me, it’s always been [about] being as human as possible, which might seem easy for any person (we are human, of course, that’s easy). But, it takes skill and honesty, a groundedness and a commitment, to use this incredible technique and art form—with the history, baggage, [and] tradition that comes with it—and bring it back to humanity. Also, bringing i