When the curtain fell at Lincoln Center earlier this month, confetti rained over Misty Copeland as she took her final bow with the American Ballet Theatre. For many in the audience, it marked the end of an era, the farewell of the first Black female principal dancer in ABT’s 85-year history, a woman who changed ballet from the inside out. But for Copeland herself, the night wasn’t just about goodbye. It was a transition, a step toward a new phase of her lifelong mission: to make ballet more inclusive, accessible, and representative of the world around it.
On Oct. 22, Copeland returned to the ABT stage for the first time in five years, performing despite a severe hip injury that left her unable to walk the next day. The gala served as both a tribute to her legacy and a personal acknowledgment of closure. “It’s been 25 years at ABT, and I think it’s time,” she said when announcing her retirement.
Copeland performed the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet with fellow principal Calvin Royal III, the first Black male principal at ABT in two decades. The duo reunited for another collaboration, this time in a contemporary piece, Wrecka Stow by Kyle Abraham. For Copeland’s final performance of the evening, she danced Sinatra Suite by Twyla Tharp alongside another favorite partner, Herman Cornejo.
She told the Associated Press in June, “I’ve become the person that I am today, and have all the opportunities I have today, because of ballet, (and) 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.”
That farewell was the culmination of a journey that began decades earlier, against all odds. Copeland’s journey from a girl in San Pedro, California, to the most recognized ballerina in the world is already considered a ballet legend. Starting dance at 13, considered late for a ballerina, she rose quickly through the ranks at ABT, joining the company in 2001 and becoming a principal in 2015. Her ascent broke through a wall that had stood for generations: she became the first Black woman to reach the highest level in one of America’s most elite and historically white ballet companies.
But with success came intense pressure. Copeland often stood apart in a world that had long celebrated a single, narrow ideal of beauty.
“I’ve experienced difficulties being a Black woman when you stand out, especially in the corps de ballet when it’s supposed to look uniform, and everyone’s kind of in the same tones wearing pink tights, which represent the color of your skin,” Copeland told CNN last year. “And that wasn’t always the case.”
Rather than letting that exclusion define her, Copeland used it as fuel. She became a public advocate for representation in ballet, mentoring young dancers of color, working with brands to diversify imagery, and even petitioning Apple to include pointe shoe emojis in a range of skin tones. Her presence alone inspired a generation of dancers who had never seen themselves reflected in the art form.
“(Copeland) has completely left a snail trail for us to glide down a lot easier than the women before her,” said India Bradley, a newly promoted soloist at New York City Ballet and the first Black woman to earn that title in the company’s history.
“People don’t think of Black women in a way where we are an option to be soloists and principals and higher ranks in these companies,” Bradley said. “I genuinely just — before Misty — don’t think that they thought of us in that way. And I think that she forced it to happen.”
Though her stage career has ended, Copeland’s work to transform ballet is only expanding. In 2021, she founded the Misty Copeland Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing diversity and opportunity in dance through arts education. Its flagship program, BE BOLD, partners with Boys and Girls Club of America sites in New York to provide free introductory ballet classes to children ages 5–12 in under-resourced communities.
“I wanted to create something that I haven’t seen before,” Copeland said in an interview for the launch of the Misty Copeland Foundation. “It wasn’t just about bringing ballet to after-school programs, it was about changing the structure of class, making it accessible to communities it wasn’t made for.”
As part of her next chapter, Copeland has also joined the American Ballet Theatre’s board of trustees, a full-circle moment with the institution where she built her groundbreaking career. Now, she hopes to help guide its future, focusing on nurturing the diversity and inclusion she championed throughout her time onstage, ensuring that spirit continues to grow in every classroom, rehearsal, and boardroom.
As Copeland transitions into her new roles as mentor, advocate, and producer, her impact continues to ripple across generations. The young girls who once watched her soar through the air now stand at the barre, knowing they belong there.
“There will be more Black primary ballerinas,” Dawn Porter wrote for MSNBC after Copeland’s final bow. “But there will never be another Misty.”
For Copeland, that’s the point. Her greatest role, perhaps, is making sure she’s no longer the only one.