Written By: Grace S.
Misty Copeland is currently a ballet prodigy. But her life was not always that way. No matter what the struggles were in her life, she always kept dancing. Read more to learn more about this ballet dancer, Misty Copeland!
I was born in Kansas City Missouri, on September 10, 1982. My birth parents were Sylvia DleaCerna, and Doug Copeland. When I was born, I had and older sister and two older brothers. My brothers were Douglas, and Christopher Copeland, and my sister was Erica Copeland.
When I was a toddler my real dad and mom got divorced and mommy took us to live with our first stepdad Harold. I really like him. Harold had a wonderful laugh. Whenever people where around him he made them laugh to. My little sister Lindsay was born after we had lived with him for 3 years. Even though there were 5 kids in the family, he always found a way to spend time with all of us. I loved it when we would sit on the couch and eat sunflower seeds. But when I was 7, mommy told us that we were leaving again. Later she told us that Harold was an alcoholic.
Our new house was only 20 miles away from Harold. We now had a stepfather named Robert. Robert called me “Little Hawaiin girl." Robert was much stricter than Harold. Every night we ate at the dining room table instead of on the couch. Robert was strict about us kids cleaning up around the house. If we did not follow his rules, we would have to stand in the corner and not say anything. Sometimes when Doug and Chris, (my two brothers), were arguing, they would have to “box it out,” in the yard. One time when Robert got mad at Chris, he hit him with a frying pan. Sometimes Robert was particularly mean, liked when he dragged Chris across the house by his ear. He was also abusive to my mom, and eventually she could not hide the bruises that she had. One day mommy told us that we were leaving so we packed up all our belongings that we could fit, and we left Robert for good.
We were annoyed that our mother always needed a boyfriend or a husband. We are now living with Mommy's new boyfriend, Ray. Mommy worked in sales, but she did not make much. Ray did not make much, either. So, the eight of us were living on truly little money. We ate mostly packaged foods, like potato chips and ramen noodles. But every now and then we would get a can of vegetables to round it out. Our mother did not cook much, so Chris would prepare our meals. We did not like ray. He was nerdy. He tried too hard to get us to like him. Plus, our mother changed when she was around him. They got matching tattoos, and she kissed him in front of us like they were teenagers. We only had to deal with ray for about a year, though, because mommy now had a new boyfriend, Alex.
We moved into Alexs apartment. Like rays, it was tiny. And so, the 6 of us kids slept on the living room floor leaving the bedroom to mommy and Alex. Mommy lost her job and then her car. After a while Alex was kicked out of his apartment and we had to move again, into a motel. Alex came with us to the Sunset Inn, and we were living in a cramped space yet again. But soon, Cameron would leave us.
His father, Robert, took our mother to court and got primary custody. That meant that Cameron would live with us only on the weekends. I cried and cried when he left. He was the baby in the family, and even though we were young, it felt like we had helped mommy raise him. Cameron moving out felt like the thread that started unraveling our family. Erica was spending the night with friends more often than she stayed at home, and Lindsey spent several weeks with her father; Harold.
My escape from all the pressures from all of the men in my mother’s life, is I would go out in the backyard, and I would teach myself gymnastics/dancing movements. I taught myself the splits, and front/back walkovers.
Money was so tight that sometimes we would search through the couch cushions and carpet for loose change, hoping to produce enough to buy food from the corner store. After it became clear that she could no longer support us, Mommy applies for food stamps.
“My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I am in my gym clothes and my socks, trying to do this thing called ballet, and I did not know anything about it. Once I was a part of it, I couldn’t get enough of it.” At age 13 I began my ballet studies. Two years later when I was 15, I won 1st place in the Musical Center Spotlight Awards.
I went to Point Fermin Elementary School and went to San Pedro High School from 1998 to 1999. I studied at San Fransisco Ballet school in 2000. I joined American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in September 2000. In 2001 I joined ABT as a member of the corps de ballet. In august 2007 I became the company’s second African American Female Soloist and the first in two decades. In 2008 I was honored with the Léonore Annenberg Fellowship in the art. In 2015 I was promoted to principal dancer, being the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history.
One of my most important roles was performing the lead title role in the “Firebird.” I have been in star performances such as Clara in the Nutcracker in 2014. In fall 2014 I played Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, and in Romeo and Juliet I played Juliet.
My endorsements were American Express, COACH, and Diet Dr. Pepper. In fall 2014, under Armour launched me as one of the faces of their “I will what I want” was a commercial that went viral, gaining over 9,000,000 views to date.
I was interviewed on CBS News, 60 minutes, The Today Show, Ms. MBC’s Melissa Hariss Perry, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
I am in the magazines Vouge, Essence, Ebony, and People Magazine.
I have been the author of the books Life in Motion, which was published in March 2014, and the children's book Firebird, which was published in September 2014.
I have worked with many charitable organizations and am dedicated to giving of my time to work with and mentor young boys and girls.
In 2014, President Obama appointed me to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.
In Conclusion I feel as though Misty Copeland has a wonderful story. As a ballet dancer, I know the struggles that Misty felt, with learning dance, and I want to be able to feel as wonderful of a dancer as Misty. Misty is a beautifully wonderful dancer and has a story that deserved to be told.
Sources
Copeland, Misty. Life in Motion. Simon and Schuster, 2016.
Copeland, Misty. Firebird. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2014.
mistycopeland.com
