Misty Copeland is a California raised American ballet dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, which is one of the three top ballet companies. Born the fourth out of six siblings, life was not easy. Her mother had several marriages and boyfriends causing the family to pack up and move under harried conditions at times. Her tumultuous home life led her to develop a love for movement, she began her studies in ballet at the age of 13, which is considered a late age to begin learning ballet. She studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive on full scholarship. Copeland joined the studio company of American Ballet Theatre in 2000. In late June 2015 Misty became the first African-American performer to be appointed as an ABT principal dancer. Becoming a soloist, she starred in many productions such as The Nutcracker and Firebird. …show more content…
She would perform dance routines at home to the songs of artists like Mariah Carey, and eventually was chosen to be the captain of her drill team at her middle school. The teacher advised Misty to take ballet classes at the Boys and Girls Club she attended. Misty eventually did so under the tutelage of Cynthia "Cindy" Bradley, who saw the young girl as a prodigy, able to see and perform choreographed movement immediately and dance extremely well after a very short time of training. Even with obstacles at home with her mother and physical rehabilitation from a vertebral fracture, Misty didn’t stop in her pursuit of her