Misty Copeland

I'm really looking forward to all of the projects that I have on the horizon with my production company in collaboration with some incredible other producers.

It just feels limitless right now, but I really want to stay true to myself and not just kind of be out there just to be out there, but with intention and purpose.

Thank you so much.

The address is 1800 Crescent Hollow Road.

If I'm not home from work when you get there, my nanny will be there with the boys.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you so much for having me.

You know, I don't have a clear answer on that. It's, you know, this has been, in all honesty, I've wanted to just kind of fade away into the background, which is not really possible. I think that the legacy of what I've created in terms of the way that I'm carrying so many stories of Black dancers who have come before me, like, I can't just disappear because

You know, I don't have a clear answer on that. It's, you know, this has been, in all honesty, I've wanted to just kind of fade away into the background, which is not really possible. I think that the legacy of what I've created in terms of the way that I'm carrying so many stories of Black dancers who have come before me, like, I can't just disappear because

I think there has to be an official closing to my time at American Ballet Theatre, this company that has meant everything to me and has given me the opportunities and the platform that I have. And so, you know, it was in 2019 that I think I was processing that opportunity. I think this is the end of this chapter.

I think there has to be an official closing to my time at American Ballet Theatre, this company that has meant everything to me and has given me the opportunities and the platform that I have. And so, you know, it was in 2019 that I think I was processing that opportunity. I think this is the end of this chapter.

And though I wasn't saying it out loud to the world, you know, I've already kind of moved on to that next place of what I want to be doing.

And though I wasn't saying it out loud to the world, you know, I've already kind of moved on to that next place of what I want to be doing.

Um, it was the very first time in my career that I felt fulfillment, I think is the right word. And I feel like I got to a point where it was like, I think I've done everything I can on the stage. And I think that contributed to the way I felt when I was performing. You know, I don't think that I had the same light that I've had throughout my career in

Um, it was the very first time in my career that I felt fulfillment, I think is the right word. And I feel like I got to a point where it was like, I think I've done everything I can on the stage. And I think that contributed to the way I felt when I was performing. You know, I don't think that I had the same light that I've had throughout my career in

And without knowing it, you know, the pandemic hit and I had my final performances really in classical works. And I remember one of my last performances of Swan Lake. I think it was the last performance I did of Swan Lake. It was at Wolf Trap in Virginia, the beautiful outdoor amphitheater. And it feeling like the best performance I'd ever had of Swan Lake.

And without knowing it, you know, the pandemic hit and I had my final performances really in classical works. And I remember one of my last performances of Swan Lake. I think it was the last performance I did of Swan Lake. It was at Wolf Trap in Virginia, the beautiful outdoor amphitheater. And it feeling like the best performance I'd ever had of Swan Lake.

And I think I had gotten to a place of... of just letting go of what the critics think. You know, even once I became a principal dancer, I was getting so much criticism about whether or not I should be in that position as a Black woman. Am I technically up for the challenge? That technicality, those words are often used with people of color.

And I think I had gotten to a place of... of just letting go of what the critics think. You know, even once I became a principal dancer, I was getting so much criticism about whether or not I should be in that position as a Black woman. Am I technically up for the challenge? That technicality, those words are often used with people of color.

And I remember I spent that whole year of 2019, I brought in a new teacher that was literally retraining me Because I was, like, striving to reach other people's standards of what they thought. And so that final performance, I let go, and it was an incredible last Swan Lake. I've always known that I was going to leave on my own terms.