Making History: Misty Copeland, First African American Woman to be Promoted to Principal Dancer

Congratulations go to Misty Copeland on becoming the first African-American woman to be promoted to the role of principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater! In the company's 75 year history there has never been an African American female principal dancer.

“I had moments of doubting myself, and wanting to quit, because I didn’t know that there would be a future for an African-American woman to make it to this level,” Ms. Copeland said at a news conference at the Metropolitan Opera House on Tuesday afternoon. “At the same time, it made me so hungry to push through, to carry the next generation. So it’s not me up here — and I’m constantly saying that — it’s everyone that came before me that got me to this position.”

The company announced the promotion six days after the 32-year-old dancer made her New York debut dancing Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, one of the most important roles in a ballerina's career, (talk about the "best week ever")!

History in The Making. Born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in San Pedro, California, Copeland began dancing at 13 at the San Pedro City Ballet.

She attended the American Ballet Theater's Summer Intensive on a full scholarship and later joined the ABT's Studio Company in September 2000 and joined the main company as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001.

Unlikely Ballerina. In her interviews, Ms. Copeland often talks about the different instances where she was told that she didn't have "the right body for ballet," and that black women weren't ballerinas. She proved all her haters wrong when she was named one of Time magazine's most influential figures of 2015. She also wrote a both a children's book and a best-selling memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, in which she described the challenges in reaching her position in the myth-like world of ballet.

In 2014, President Obama appointed her to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

Copeland is the first black ballerina and the second black dancer overall to be a principal at ABT. Desmond Richardson, an African American male dancer, was a principal with the company from 1977 to 1978.