Misty Copeland takes final bow with American Ballet Theatre

NEW YORK, Ny. - On October 22, ballerina Misty Copeland performed her final show with the American Ballet Theatre at Lincoln Center.

Copeland is known for bringing diversity into the classical ballet community. She started ballet when she was 13 and studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and ABT. In 2000, she joined the ABT studio company (ABT's junior company), and a year later, she joined ABT as a corps de ballet member.

In 2015, she was promoted to soloist. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman promoted to principal dancer of the ABT, which had been operating for over 85 years. She has been part of several performances, such as Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.

Copeland has regularly inspired people with her dance and has raised awareness about increasing representation in ballet.

In an interview with Good Morning America, she said, "Dance exists in every culture, every age, you come out of the womb dancing and singing. And I think it's the most natural thing that you can do. And so to exclude entire communities and races from it, I think it's just doing that a disservice."

Oprah Winfrey said about Copeland's contributions: "Misty didn’t just perform ballet. She changed it. She redefined who belongs, who gets to be seen, and who gets to lead."

Copeland has had an illustrious career outside of ballet: working with Prince, doing campaigns for Under Armour, and joining Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards. She even made her Broadway debut in 2015 with “On the Town”, where she played an aspiring ballet dancer.

Copeland's final performance drew hundreds of spectators and ballet enthusiasts, with some attendees waiting for hours to secure livestream tickets. Several notable guests attended the event, including Oprah Winfrey, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad and Jim Parsons.

The performance was simulcast during a presentation at Alice Tully Hall the same night and marked Copeland's return to the stage after a five-year hiatus. Copeland danced “Wrecka Stow” by Kyle Abraham and Twyla Tharp’s “Sinatra Suite”, among others. After the performance, several of her friends, family, and colleagues greeted and congratulated her one by one.

In an interview with the Associated Press, she said, “It’s been 25 years at ABT, and I think it’s time. It’s time for me to move to the next stage.”

Copeland continues to promote diversity through her books and her eponymous foundation.

“I’ve become the person that I am today, and have all the opportunities I have today, because of ballet, because of American Ballet Theatre. I feel like this is me saying ‘thank you’ to the company. So it’s a farewell, but it won’t be the end of me dancing,” she said.

Prithvi Sudhakar is a fourth-year majoring in cybersecurity. To contact him, email pzs5683@psu.edu.