She is the first African American woman named to this position there.

The American Ballet Theatre, or ABT, is one of the most important classical ballet compa- nies in the United States. This company performs two sessions a year in New York City, then spends the rest of the year touring the U.S. and the rest of the world. The ABT has set trends in the ballet world ever since it was founded in 1939. Now, this legendary company can claim another first: it has just promoted Misty Copeland to “principal dancer” status. This makes her the first African American woman in this position in the ABT’s 76-year history.

Thirty-two-year-old Misty Copeland grew up in California. She has one of the most dramatic stories of any ballet dancer in recent memory. For one thing, she did not start taking lessons until she was 13 years old, when a teacher told her that she had the talent and bearing to be a ballerina. Most ballet dancers start their training when they are 6 or 7, or even earlier. Soon after she started lessons, her mother and five siblings moved two hours away. Misty had so much promise as a dancer that she moved in with her dance teacher during the week, going home on the weekends.

Misty won acclaim, and national awards, as a dancer. She also got offers of internships with some of the finest ballet schools in the U.S. — but her mother insisted that she quit dance to finish high school. This led to Misty running away and filing for emancipation. After a brief custody battle between her mother and her teacher, all parties worked out their differences, and she was able to resume her career. In the year 2000, she joined the ABT, where she was one of the youngest soloists in the company’s history. Copeland’s success comes from believing in herself, no matter what.

Misty Copeland never felt racial discrimination in her early ballet career. It was only later that she felt the weight of being one of the few African American ballet dancers. Instead, she faced criticism of a different kind. At only 5’2”, she is shorter than most solo ballerinas. She also has muscles and curves, instead of the typical rail-thin dancer’s body. Like so many other young dancers, she developed an eating disorder after just a year at ABT. She also developed stress fractures in her leg from dancing so many hours a day for so long. Any of these problems could have taken Copeland away from ballet. Fortunately, however, her hard work ethic and determination helped her overcome everyone’s objections, including her own.

After seven years of dancing in the background of ABT ballets, Copeland became a company soloist in 2007. She also appeared in other places. Her commercial for Under Armour athletic gear gained her a whole new level of fame. This commercial showing her dancing has gotten 8 million views on You Tube. She has also designed her own line of dancewear, modeled for cal- endars, and written two books: an autobiography called “Life in Motion” and an inspirational ballet-themed children’s book called “Firebird.” Misty Copeland is now a ballet superstar and an inspiration to thousands of young girls who would like to follow in her footsteps.