Misty Copeland

Arts
Books

'It chips away at you': Misty Copeland on the whiteness of ballet

2:43pm November 14, 2022

by Terry Gross

For years Copeland was told that her skin color, her body and her hair didn't conform to what ballerinas were supposed to look like. Her memoir is The Wind at My Back.

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Ballerina Misty Copeland poses with the Barbie doll that's based on her, in this promotional photo released by Mattel.

National
Arts

Misty Copeland Inspires A Barbie 'Sheroes' Doll

2:28pm May 02, 2016

by Bill Chappell

Misty Copeland says she played with Barbie dolls until she was 13 — the same year she started ballet.

Misty Copeland (center) performed in the Washington Ballet production of Swan Lake in April.

National
Arts

Still She Rises: Misty Copeland Makes History With American Ballet Theatre

3:01pm June 30, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Misty Copeland didn't begin ballet until she took a free class at a Boys & Girls Club. Today she became the first black female principal dancer with the premiere U.S. dance company.