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Speaker 1: Welcome back to season three of She Pivots. I'm your host,

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Speaker 1: Emilie Tish Susman, coming to you from an endless winter

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Speaker 1: of sickness. So we've told up to date almost fifty

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Speaker 1: stories of incredible women, and as a result of this

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Speaker 1: show like we're seeing a culture shift, like the shift

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Speaker 1: we had hoped, because people are really being able to

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Speaker 1: see themselves in the stories and seeing that they can

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Speaker 1: make changes, and sometimes the changes are just a perspective

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Speaker 1: shift yourself. One of the things that makes me crazy

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Speaker 1: is when I hear people say like, oh, I had

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Speaker 1: this career before, but that was all a waste because

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to do it again and I'm doing

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Speaker 1: something different now. It's not a waste. Everything you did

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Speaker 1: built you up to the person that you are right now.

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Speaker 1: You've taken something from it. You've grown in MiG ways

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Speaker 1: you may not even realize. And I think it's especially

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Speaker 1: true for vicious women. It's hard to see themselves this

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Speaker 1: way if their circumstances have changed, if they're not in

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Speaker 1: the same job. But you know what, you are still

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Speaker 1: that same ambitious person. It doesn't mean that you're not

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Speaker 1: the same ambitious person that you were if your circumstances changed,

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Speaker 1: it means that you have changed the definition of your success.

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Speaker 1: You're not lost, you're not gone, you have everything you

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Speaker 1: need inside of you just need to change the perspective

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Speaker 1: and the world where conventional notions of achievement often revolve

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Speaker 1: around the linear career paths, I'm really proud to spotlight

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Speaker 1: the real life experiences of these remarkable women who've shown

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Speaker 1: that success is not defined by one side spits all formula.

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Speaker 1: I broke the cycle by leaving my decades long career

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Speaker 1: in DC politics after I had three kids in just

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Speaker 1: four years. Like it wasn't easy, and at times I

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Speaker 1: doubt that I made the right decision. I definitely have FOMO,

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Speaker 1: but as I look back, it was in those really

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Speaker 1: low points that I was able to truly change my

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Speaker 1: perspective and then carve out a different and possibly better

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Speaker 1: path for myself. I'm so happy that I can have

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Speaker 1: this platform to not just highlight the stories of women

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Speaker 1: who have made changes, but also tell the stories for myself.

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Speaker 1: And it gives me ideas of places to be investing,

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Speaker 1: businesses to be looking at, really affirming that it's okay

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Speaker 1: that I have a different perspective than I did before.

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Speaker 1: So you know, in this last couple of years, I've

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Speaker 1: started investing in more women owned businesses. I just became

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Speaker 1: a co owner of Gotham FC Football women's football. I'm

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Speaker 1: investing in theater, taking different risks and different kind of

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Speaker 1: chances that I couldn't have done if I was still

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Speaker 1: in the same political job that I was before. So

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Speaker 1: I'm so excited for this season ahead and I can't

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Speaker 1: wait to share the stories with you.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back to she Pivots. I'm Misty Copeland. We're kicking

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Speaker 2: off this season with a true icon, Misty Copeland. You

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Speaker 2: may know her as the first African American premiere ballerina

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Speaker 2: of the American Ballet Theater. You may know her as

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Speaker 2: an author. You may know her as a founder or philanthropist.

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Speaker 2: Now you might be thinking, has in Misty always been

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Speaker 2: a ballerina.

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Speaker 1: Yes, that may be true, but Misty's journey to becoming

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Speaker 1: the first black premiere ballerina for the American Ballet Theater

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Speaker 1: is more than meets the eye. Misty grew up in

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Speaker 1: San Pedro, California, and didn't start dancing until the age

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Speaker 1: of thirteen, which, as any dance enthusiast will know it's

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Speaker 1: quite old to begin ballet. I had the honor of

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Speaker 1: interviewing Misty in person, and her being is just full

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Speaker 1: of grace, Like she floats in the room. She's confident

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Speaker 1: and kind, and you'd never guess that she grew up

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Speaker 1: incredibly shy. Misty had a unique journey to her success,

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Speaker 1: and one that forced her to redefine and find new

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Speaker 1: versions of success for herself at an extremely young age.

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Speaker 1: From going through a difficult custody battle between her mother

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Speaker 1: and her mentor and dance teacher, to going through delayed

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Speaker 1: puberty at the age of nineteen and ballet opera tunities

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Speaker 1: drying up as a result. It was fascinating to hear

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Speaker 1: how those changes shifted her perspective and allowed me to

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Speaker 1: embrace different paths and roles as one of the most

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Speaker 1: famous ballerinas, and specifically black ballerinas in the world. As

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Speaker 1: her success has grown, she's had to learn to step

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Speaker 1: into her power, and she has, from starting the Misty

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Speaker 1: Copeland Foundation to authoring several books to starting her own

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Speaker 1: athletic warline. I'm so excited to share this story with you,

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Speaker 1: and even more excited for everything to come in season three,

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Speaker 1: Hope you enjoy.

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Speaker 2: My name is Misty Copeland. I am a principal ballerina

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Speaker 2: with American Ballet Theater. I am also a mother. I

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Speaker 2: am an author, I am a philanthropist, I am a designer.

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Speaker 1: I'm a woman. I love that. I love that so much. Well,

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Speaker 1: I'm so glad we opened with that question. The premise

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Speaker 1: of this show is that we are not singular beings,

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Speaker 1: right Like we don't. If we look at someone's resume,

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Speaker 1: we think, oh, of course that's the trajectory they took,

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Speaker 1: but it's not how we experience it, right, And that

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Speaker 1: it's not just all professional resume stuff, right Like, these

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Speaker 1: personal things in our life changed our perspective, and you

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Speaker 1: are an incredible example of that. I've always wanted I

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Speaker 1: love the arts. I've always wanted to have, you know,

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Speaker 1: people and the arts on especially in dance, because you

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Speaker 1: don't necessarily decide as a dancer when your first dance

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Speaker 1: career is over.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, I feel like it's such an interesting field that

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Speaker 2: I was going to say I chose, but I didn't

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Speaker 2: choose it. I think that it really found me and

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Speaker 2: I feel like what I've done with this opportunity was

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Speaker 2: used dance as a tool to do so many other things,

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Speaker 2: and often in the ballet world in particular, we don't

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Speaker 2: have agency. We don't have kind of control over when

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Speaker 2: our career begins, when it ends, when we can have children,

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Speaker 2: what the next steps will look like. You know, there

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Speaker 2: hasn't been room, I guess, for more diversity in so

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Speaker 2: many ways. And I feel like coming into this field,

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Speaker 2: I was such a shy and quiet girl and really

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Speaker 2: just like insecure and trying to understand how I fit

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Speaker 2: into the world. And my family always found it so

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Speaker 2: profound that I would choose this field where I'm in

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Speaker 2: front of an audience and I'm entertaining and I'm you know,

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Speaker 2: you know, it was the opposite of who I was

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Speaker 2: as a little girl. But there was something that I

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Speaker 2: was drawn to about this form of expression that allowed

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Speaker 2: me to grow in ways I don't think I ever

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Speaker 2: would have had I not been introduced to ballet.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember before you started ballet people ask little

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Speaker 1: kids like, what do you want to be when you

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Speaker 1: grew up? Like, do you remember.

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Speaker 2: Before thirteen years old being asked that question? No idea?

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Speaker 1: I had no idea what I wanted to be.

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Speaker 2: I don't feel that I really ever felt a sense

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Speaker 2: of like purpose or belonging, or that there was anything

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Speaker 2: I was particularly good at or really interested in. I

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Speaker 2: was so introverted and was literally just existing and hiding,

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Speaker 2: like I didn't want to be the center of attention.

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Speaker 2: Just the life that we were living. You know, my

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Speaker 2: mom was a single parent. We often didn't have a

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Speaker 2: roof over our heads, so it was like my every

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Speaker 2: day was don't let anyone know what's going on in

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Speaker 2: your home. Life Like that was my existence. So the

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Speaker 2: thought of a future or what I would do was

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Speaker 2: not a part of wasn't a part of my life

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Speaker 2: at all. It was probably just the worst time in

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Speaker 2: my childhood. And when ballet found me.

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Speaker 1: Well, you started ballet pretty I don't want to say old,

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Speaker 1: that's ridiculously you were thirteen, but it's such a specific

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Speaker 1: athletic form that you really do need to start young.

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Speaker 1: And you started many years probably after Peers did, and

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Speaker 1: that you kind of watched for like a week.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, again, like I had no knowledge of what the

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Speaker 2: classical ballet world was. I'd never heard classical music before,

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Speaker 2: and it was it was really music that made me

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Speaker 2: be drawn to dance, but it was more pop music

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Speaker 2: and soul and R and B and hip hop. That

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Speaker 2: drew me to wanting to be on the drill team

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Speaker 2: at my middle school. And from there I was really

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Speaker 2: pushed into taking this free ballet class at my local

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Speaker 2: boys and Girls club at the Community Centers right across

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Speaker 2: the street from my school. And I just was I

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Speaker 2: had no interest, and the teacher was like, just give

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Speaker 2: it a shot, and you know, and it was like, well,

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Speaker 2: just stay in the room, and that was like the

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Speaker 2: first step. So I was like, fine, I'll sit on

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Speaker 2: the bleachers and I'll watch. And she kept sending notes

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Speaker 2: home with my you know, just to give to my

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Speaker 2: mom and just say like, I'm really interested in having

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Speaker 2: this to take these classes. And yeah, I think it

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Speaker 2: was maybe a week later that I finally said, okay,

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Speaker 2: I'll do it. So I took that first ballet class

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Speaker 2: on the basketball court in my gym clothes, and that

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Speaker 2: teacher said, you're a prodigy. I've never seen anyone who

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Speaker 2: could pick up the movement so quickly and retain the

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Speaker 2: information and whose body could just really adapt and you

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Speaker 2: know musically, how you connected the movement to the music.

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Speaker 3: Misty Copeland has been dancing for only three years, but

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Speaker 3: she has won competitions over ballerinas with years more experience.

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Speaker 3: Many in the dance world say Misty is poised on

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Speaker 3: the brink of stardom.

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Speaker 2: I just hope to become famous bellarina.

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Speaker 1: But at just thirteen, still living in a motel with

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Speaker 1: her mother and five siblings, she was just a young

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Speaker 1: girl with no idea or concept of the heights she

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Speaker 1: would eventually reach.

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Speaker 2: I fell in love immediately, like once I was in

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Speaker 2: the atmosphere that I still to this day hold. It

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Speaker 2: gets such a sacred space. It was the first time

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Speaker 2: in my life that I was in a room where

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Speaker 2: I felt safe and I felt seen and heard. It's

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Speaker 2: seems so opposing that you're practically naked and vulnerable, you know,

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Speaker 2: in what you're wearing and the way that you're kind

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Speaker 2: of giving yourself to this art form. But I felt

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Speaker 2: so in control and brave and confident, like all of

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Speaker 2: the things I had never experienced growing up, you know,

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Speaker 2: as one of six children, with little stability throughout my life.

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Speaker 2: And it was just like, oh, like the puzzle pieces

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Speaker 2: just came together and I was like, this is what

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Speaker 2: I'm supposed to be doing, and it just started to

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Speaker 2: make sense and what I was learning in the studio,

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Speaker 2: I was starting to open up and be able to

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Speaker 2: apply those things outside in school, even just social skills.

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Speaker 2: And it all feels so backwards to me now. And

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Speaker 2: I'm sure people on your team could relate to this,

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Speaker 2: as you know performers and dancers, but so many ballet

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Speaker 2: dancers don't have great social skills and are not really

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Speaker 2: you know, you're kind of in this bubble because you're

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Speaker 2: training and you're working towards professional career, and you don't

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Speaker 2: have a lot of time to be social in your life.

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Speaker 2: And I feel like it was like the opposite experience

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Speaker 2: for me. It was just opened up a whole world

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Speaker 2: that I didn't even know was there, and I grew

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Speaker 2: in leaps and bounds.

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Speaker 1: Wow, when you say, you know you took skills that

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Speaker 1: you learned from ballet and you took it to outside

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Speaker 1: social skills, what were some of the ways that you

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Speaker 1: took it into school.

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Speaker 2: There was an understanding of being able to be present

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Speaker 2: and to focus, to have this sense of discipline, to

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Speaker 2: be able to think critically, even to have more empathy,

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Speaker 2: like to think outside of myself. I was not capable

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Speaker 2: of doing that because I was so concerned with just

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Speaker 2: surviving every day that I couldn't even see beyond, you know,

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Speaker 2: this little bubble that I was existing in and I

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Speaker 2: didn't want anyone to see me.

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Speaker 1: And it started to change.

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Speaker 2: You know. It was like, I'm feeling confident about who

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Speaker 2: I am in my body, and I want people to

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Speaker 2: see me now. I want people to see the person

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Speaker 2: I'm growing into, and it just it completely changed my

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Speaker 2: outlook on everything.

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Speaker 1: So what was your schedule like as a teenager?

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Speaker 2: They ended up pulling me from my public school. So

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Speaker 2: I was doing homeschooling independent studies, and I would take

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Speaker 2: like an adult ballet class in the mornings. I would

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Speaker 2: go home and do some homework, and then I would

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Speaker 2: take a beginner ballet class at like three o'clock, and

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Speaker 2: then I would take the advanced ballet class in the evening.

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Speaker 2: So I was taking up to three classes a day,

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Speaker 2: like maybe a modern class, and there's sometimes or a

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Speaker 2: pilates class. And then she had a company, so I

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Speaker 2: was also performing with this company, so we would you know,

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Speaker 2: learn choreography and be rehearsing for different shows. So it

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Speaker 2: was pretty rigorous. At this point, Misty was training with

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Speaker 2: her instructor and mentor Cindy Bradley, who believed in Misty's

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Speaker 2: talent more than anyone ever had before. I never felt

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Speaker 2: judged by her. She was just a support, a friend,

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Speaker 2: a mentor, all of these things to me, and a

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Speaker 2: ballet teacher that was just so open to giving as

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Speaker 2: much of herself to me to get me to where

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Speaker 2: I needed to be professionally.

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Speaker 1: Still, eventually, Misty's intense schedule, paired with her rocky home life,

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Speaker 1: forced her to pick between the two, so she did

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Speaker 1: what she thought was best. One day, Cindy drove her

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Speaker 1: home to the hotel where she was living, and Misty

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Speaker 1: told her she had to quit dance and ran inside.

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Speaker 2: A couple of minutes later, there's a knock at the

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Speaker 2: door and Cindy had turned around. She had left and

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Speaker 2: was just kind of in shock with what she just witnessed,

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Speaker 2: and then decided to turn back around and she spoke

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Speaker 2: with my mom for a while, and my mom turned

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Speaker 2: to me and said, Cindy asked if you would want

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Speaker 2: to go and live with her so you can continue training,

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Speaker 2: And it was shocking, and I was like yes.

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Speaker 1: Both Misty and her mother said yes. After some time

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Speaker 1: tensions rose. As Misty became busier and busier with dance,

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Speaker 1: she was less able to go home and visit her mother.

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Speaker 1: That's when the court battle ensued.

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Speaker 3: That fud sparked an unusual legal battle over the control

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Speaker 3: of the young dancer's future and played out in national

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Speaker 3: headlines and on television talk shows.

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Speaker 1: So you went through this pretty prolonged court battle. Well,

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Speaker 1: I guess the adults in your life did that you

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Speaker 1: were the subject of And to know that you were

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Speaker 1: so introverted and had not that long before that come

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Speaker 1: from this place of you know, I just I don't

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Speaker 1: want anyone to notice me, to now be getting all

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Speaker 1: of this press, and then in the end you moved

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Speaker 1: back with your mother. Yeah, do you remember what that

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Speaker 1: was like? To have gone from this like public, public

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Speaker 1: battle to then just be in private together like in

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Speaker 1: those intimate moments was mortifying.

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Speaker 2: It was probably the worst year of my life fifteen

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Speaker 2: years old. When you know, they think there was just

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Speaker 2: like a lack of communication and understanding on both ends,

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Speaker 2: like from my teacher, what it meant for my mom,

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Speaker 2: you know, having six children that she's raised on her own,

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Speaker 2: and having in her eyes one taken away from her,

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Speaker 2: and then from my teacher, it's like, but do you

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Speaker 2: understand this talent that we have here? And for me

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Speaker 2: in the middle, you know, it was like I just

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Speaker 2: want everyone to be happy, and I just want to

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Speaker 2: continue dancing, and it blew up and became something so

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Speaker 2: much bigger than I ever imagined. Going from you know,

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Speaker 2: wanting to hide the fact that me and my siblings

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Speaker 2: were living in a one room motel to having it

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Speaker 2: all over every news and talk show, news show you

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Speaker 2: could think of, was just it was traumatizing. And then

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Speaker 2: having to go back to school, you know, once I

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Speaker 2: moved back in with my mom, I was back in

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Speaker 2: school and everyone knew everything about me. So those were

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Speaker 2: really really tough years. I was I couldn't wait to

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Speaker 2: not be in this in the limelight like that. I

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Speaker 2: would say it was pretty consistent though, from the time

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Speaker 2: I started dancing that I was in the public eye

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Speaker 2: and even post you know, all of the court battle

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Speaker 2: and all of that. But that moment in particular was

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Speaker 2: is something that no child should ever experience.

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Speaker 1: It was really, really, really difficult. Do you think that

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Speaker 1: your mother felt that you had were pulling away, like

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Speaker 1: that you were different and had changed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and I don't think that she was capable

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Speaker 2: at the time of seeing that as a positive thing,

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Speaker 2: that I needed room to grow into my own person.

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Speaker 2: And now as a mother, I completely understand it. You know,

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Speaker 2: I can't imagine letting go of my son so that

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Speaker 2: he could grow. I mean, you know, I don't think

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Speaker 2: that she saw it in that way in the beginning.

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Speaker 2: In the beginning, it was like, Okay, someone this small

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Speaker 2: little ballot studio in San Pedro, California. This teacher thinks

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Speaker 2: my daughter's talented. Okay, I'll go let her take some

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Speaker 2: ballet classes after school. And I don't think she really

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Speaker 2: understood maybe like the magnitude of my talent or what

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Speaker 2: the opportunities could look like. And so for her, it

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Speaker 2: just felt like this woman kind of coming into our

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Speaker 2: lives and taking me away. And so yeah, it took

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Speaker 2: time for her to really understand what it was I

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Speaker 2: was doing with my career and where it could take me.

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Speaker 1: But it was difficult.

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Speaker 2: I mean I was thirteen years old when I moved

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Speaker 2: in with my ballet teacher and her husband and at

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Speaker 2: the time their three year old son, and I lived

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Speaker 2: with them for like three and a half years, and

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Speaker 2: that was how I could catch up on all of

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Speaker 2: my training. I mean, they were completely dedicated to getting

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Speaker 2: me to ABT.

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Speaker 1: That was the goal.

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Speaker 2: And four years, within four years of training, I was

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Speaker 2: at ABT dancing professionally.

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Speaker 1: So at what point did the mindset switched for you

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Speaker 1: to say, this is my future, this is my profession,

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Speaker 1: and did you buy in that ABT was the goal?

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Speaker 1: I would say so.

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Speaker 2: It must have been a couple of months after I

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Speaker 2: started dancing when I was invited to live with my teacher.

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Speaker 2: That's when I knew that this was what I was

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Speaker 2: going to do. I knew that I was going to

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Speaker 2: be a professional. I knew ABT was it. ABT was

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Speaker 2: the only company my teacher really ever introduced me to.

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Speaker 2: She had all of the programs from the time the

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Speaker 2: company was formed and it was founded, and I knew

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Speaker 2: every dancer like throughout the seventies and eighties and was

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Speaker 2: watching all the VHS tapes and was just like obsessed

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Speaker 2: with this company. And you know, as I got older,

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Speaker 2: you know, she explained to me that it was the

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Speaker 2: most culturally diverse company in the world, especially you know,

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Speaker 2: in the eighties and in the nineties. This was where

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Speaker 2: international superstars. They were all coming to ABT. You didn't

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Speaker 2: have to come through a school and have all the

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Speaker 2: same training. People could come from all different places, and

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Speaker 2: she just felt like, as a black girl, this was

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Speaker 2: something somewhere where she felt I could fit in more

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Speaker 2: so than most other companies.

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Speaker 1: Where you have to train in their school.

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Speaker 2: Most you know, they typically all look the same, and

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Speaker 2: ABT was very unique in that way.

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Speaker 1: It was once again Cindy who fostered an environment for

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Speaker 1: Misty where she felt comfortable and included. In fact, Misty

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Speaker 1: found out later in life that Cindy had fended off

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Speaker 1: angry parents who made comments about Missy's race.

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Speaker 2: I'm fortunate for the way that my first teacher really

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Speaker 2: kind of sheltered me from a lot, because I think

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Speaker 2: had I been focused on being the only black girl

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Speaker 2: in my school or possibly being the only black woman

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Speaker 2: to go to a professional company no matter where I went,

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Speaker 2: I think that wouldn't have allowed me to really just

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Speaker 2: focus on the training and just feel like I'm just

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Speaker 2: like everyone else. You know, I'm just a dancer. And

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Speaker 2: that's really the environment she made for me. Now looking back,

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Speaker 2: like we've had many conversations about the things that she

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Speaker 2: kept from I mean, there were students that pulled out

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Speaker 2: of the school when I came, their parents that were

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Speaker 2: giving money or on the board that were like why

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Speaker 2: is she doing the lead? And just so things like

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Speaker 2: that that were happening that I wasn't aware of. So

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Speaker 2: when I got to ABT, it was like I'm just

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Speaker 2: another dancer.

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Speaker 1: At just sixteen, three years after beginning ballet, she ventured

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Speaker 1: to New York to train at the American Ballet Theater

381
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Speaker 1: or ABT for a summer intensive.

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Speaker 2: Initially, I was just overwhelmed. You know, I'm from a

383
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Speaker 2: small town like on the beach, like a port city

384
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Speaker 2: in California, and then to be to come here for

385
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Speaker 2: the first time, like in the dead of summer when

386
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,119
Speaker 2: it's just like so hot and muggy, and I just

387
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Speaker 2: remember being so overwhelmed with like the trash on the streets.

388
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Speaker 1: I couldn't understand.

389
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Speaker 2: I was like, why is there so much trash on

390
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Speaker 2: the streets? Like people just leave their trash like out,

391
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Speaker 2: you know, to be picked. A question still was like

392
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Speaker 2: why is this happening. I fell in love within a

393
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Speaker 2: week and just couldn't imagine myself living anywhere else. And

394
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Speaker 2: this is like you know this like cultural mecca and

395
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Speaker 2: you know, thinking of Ballet, New York City Ballet and

396
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Speaker 2: ABT being here. And at the end of the program,

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Speaker 2: Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director, pulled me aside and offered

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Speaker 2: me a contract with their junior company.

399
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Speaker 1: Wow.

400
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Speaker 2: And it was like, well, I didn't know it was

401
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,280
Speaker 2: going to start this soon, Like it was like my

402
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Speaker 2: first summer away. And I remember I just said to him, Oh,

403
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Speaker 2: I have to call my mom and ask. He's like wow,

404
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,640
Speaker 2: like yeah, she's a little girl, and.

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Speaker 1: My mom said no, So I ended up.

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Speaker 2: She was like, I really want you to have as

407
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Speaker 2: normal of this high school experience as possible. And I

408
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Speaker 2: was like, I hated it.

409
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Speaker 4: You know.

410
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Speaker 2: I didn't want to go to prom, like that was

411
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,959
Speaker 2: like the farthest thing from what I wanted to do.

412
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Speaker 2: But she made me.

413
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Speaker 1: I went to PROM. It was terrible.

414
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Speaker 2: It was someone I didn't want to go.

415
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Speaker 1: It was just terrible. I was like, I just want

416
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Speaker 1: to be in New York. So I went to PROM.

417
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Speaker 2: I graduated, but Kevin promised that he would have a

418
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Speaker 2: contract waiting for me when I graduated high school, so

419
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Speaker 2: I came back for the summer when I was seventeen

420
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Speaker 2: years old, and I moved here that summer and finished

421
00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,159
Speaker 2: the summer intensive program and then at the end of

422
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Speaker 2: the program, instead of going into the studio company, which

423
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Speaker 2: is what he offered me, he offered me an apprenticeship

424
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Speaker 2: with the company. So within two weeks I was in

425
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Speaker 2: China with the company. It was my first time out

426
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Speaker 2: of the country and it just kind of all began.

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Speaker 5: Now we shine our Sunday spotlight on an African American trailblazer.

428
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Speaker 5: Misty Copeland is set to become a breakout ballet star,

429
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,640
Speaker 5: one of the only elite black ballerinas, and now she's

430
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,879
Speaker 5: wondering why there aren't more like her here.

431
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Speaker 6: I read an article about Misty Copeland, the ballet dancer

432
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Speaker 6: you're familiar with.

433
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Speaker 1: Missy is a very interesting person.

434
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Speaker 6: He's the first African American female principal dancer with the

435
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Speaker 6: American Ballet Theater and I have to say, and.

436
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Speaker 2: Then I ended up moving in with a a ballet

437
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Speaker 2: legend and her family Isabelle Brown on the Upper West Side,

438
00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,240
Speaker 2: and she had children, Leslie Brown, who was there of

439
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 2: the turning point in principal dancer at ABT, and her

440
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 2: son Ethan Brown, and a daughter who was in New

441
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,080
Speaker 2: York City Ballet. They trained at SAB so I was

442
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 2: living in there, the apartment that she raised her children,

443
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,399
Speaker 2: and it was just like, oh my gosh. You know,

444
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 2: I would she would leave and you know, go out

445
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,200
Speaker 2: on the town and I would sneak into a bookshelf

446
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:21,200
Speaker 2: and like find every ABT program possible, and just like this,

447
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 2: it was like a dream of Ballerina's dream.

448
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: You were sort of forced to reckon with that pretty

449
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 1: young at nineteen due to serious injury. Yeah, and tell

450
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,000
Speaker 1: us about that, And I mean, your body went through

451
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,199
Speaker 1: very serious transformation at that point because of it.

452
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 2: I was still so new to dance, so I don't

453
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 2: even think I really understood like the severity of an

454
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,920
Speaker 2: injury and what that meant. So it was my first

455
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,880
Speaker 2: year in the court of ballet, and I was not

456
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 2: I didn't understand that I was an athlete. I didn't

457
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:54,880
Speaker 2: understand how to take care of my body and what

458
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,960
Speaker 2: PT looked like, and not PT because you're injured, but

459
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 2: just to maintain that wasn't something that was even like

460
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,359
Speaker 2: talked about at that point, you know, when I was

461
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,160
Speaker 2: coming up and so I was just working, working, working

462
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 2: any gig that was being offered to me. I mean

463
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,679
Speaker 2: I was dancing on concrete sometimes, Like it was just terrible,

464
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 2: and I ended up with a stress reaction in my

465
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 2: lower lambard and I ended up in a back brace

466
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,359
Speaker 2: for six months. I was wearing it twenty three hours

467
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,880
Speaker 2: a day, and so I was out dancing for a year.

468
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 2: And at that time, the doctors felt like I got

469
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 2: the fracture because I wasn't menstruating, and they felt that that,

470
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 2: you know, and to me, like looking back, it was

471
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,639
Speaker 2: like I was so healthy, it was completely normal. I

472
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,480
Speaker 2: was very small and very athletic, and so they ended

473
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,480
Speaker 2: up putting me on bird control. And back then, I

474
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:46,320
Speaker 2: mean it was like like so many hormones in these pills.

475
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,360
Speaker 2: They're not like lighter versions that are offered today. And

476
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 2: I gained ten pounds within like a couple of weeks,

477
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,479
Speaker 2: and I had a completely different body that was like

478
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 2: so unfamiliar to me. And then you know it cletanly

479
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:02,800
Speaker 2: changed how I was looked at in the valley world.

480
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,199
Speaker 2: Like I came back to ABT after this injury and

481
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,840
Speaker 2: had like a double D breast and was so much heavier,

482
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 2: and it was like, oh, all those opportunities kind of

483
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 2: dried up because of you know, instead of you know,

484
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 2: and it was like, oh, go see go see a nutritionists,

485
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,560
Speaker 2: but you have to pay for it, you know, And

486
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 2: so it was just there wasn't just I think it's

487
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 2: just how the ballet world especially was at that time.

488
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 2: That's not wasn't very nurturing, wasn't allowing people to understand

489
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,639
Speaker 2: like all that it takes to be a part of

490
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,280
Speaker 2: this field, that there's so much that you have to

491
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 2: do to take care of yourself.

492
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,359
Speaker 1: Can you talk to us about the mental process that

493
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 1: you have to go through? You know, I think that

494
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,760
Speaker 1: people see your success and your how strong you are

495
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,160
Speaker 1: and think, well, of course, of course she's so successful.

496
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,480
Speaker 1: You know, she keeps herself an incredible shape. Of course

497
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 1: she's But you've had very serious injuries with long time

498
00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 1: periods of being out. Can you talk to us about

499
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 1: how how you mentally go through those moments.

500
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,920
Speaker 2: It's so wild to look back on it, because I

501
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:06,919
Speaker 2: felt like at the time, like, oh, I was like

502
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 2: a nutcase because like you're doing everything to stay positive,

503
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 2: and for me, in my mind it was like I

504
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,919
Speaker 2: have to keep dancing in my mind and to not

505
00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,400
Speaker 2: kind of step away and lose that momentum. So even

506
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 2: if I couldn't physically do everything I needed to do,

507
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,880
Speaker 2: you know, I was working on things I had control over.

508
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:31,800
Speaker 2: So for instance, my most severe injury happened, and I

509
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 2: think it was twenty twelve. I had six stress fractures

510
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,640
Speaker 2: in my tibia, and three of them were almost full

511
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,639
Speaker 2: breaks through the bone, and I ended up having a

512
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 2: plate screwed in. And I was told by probably ten

513
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,360
Speaker 2: doctors I would never dance again. And I found one

514
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,479
Speaker 2: doctor who worked with athletes, who worked with you know,

515
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,720
Speaker 2: basketball players in the Knicks and professional football players. It

516
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,119
Speaker 2: was like, oh, we deal with these injuries all the time.

517
00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,920
Speaker 2: Put the plate in. But you know then I couldn't.

518
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 2: I had to learn how to walk again. I you know,

519
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 2: it was like starting over and at that time, and

520
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:09,359
Speaker 2: I've always been this way, you know, whenever I've had injuries,

521
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,119
Speaker 2: I've wanted to find different ways of cross training, like

522
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,439
Speaker 2: what can I do that's going to make me better?

523
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,959
Speaker 2: And so I found this amazing little old woman. I

524
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 2: ran into her at the JCC in the locker room

525
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:23,560
Speaker 2: and she looked at me and she was like, are

526
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,520
Speaker 2: you Misty Copeland? And I was like, yeah, she's like

527
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 2: I just saw you in the Firebird like a week ago,

528
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 2: like what's happening? And you know, And then I ended

529
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 2: up finding out she was a floor bar teacher and

530
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 2: she had trained with this man in Paris who created

531
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 2: the technique that she knew, and that was kind of

532
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 2: what kept me sane. I mean, I wasn't standing, but

533
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 2: I was doing ballet bar laying on my back and

534
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:48,159
Speaker 2: on my stomach and on my side, and I was

535
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 2: working on my portbral like my arms and things that

536
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,880
Speaker 2: I knew I wanted to work on. But I think

537
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:58,800
Speaker 2: that it's really staying mentally focused and mentally positive and

538
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,640
Speaker 2: like a healthy headspace. Well, you've spoken a lot about,

539
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,879
Speaker 2: you know, kind of looking in hindsight about how coming

540
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,159
Speaker 2: up through the ranks as the only black ballerina it

541
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,919
Speaker 2: felt lonely and you didn't have a lot of peers

542
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 2: when you were looking forward to it, like you thought

543
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,960
Speaker 2: of ABT as the most culturally diverse company, did you

544
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 2: have an awareness that it would be isolating?

545
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,440
Speaker 1: Like what was your mindset going in? From that perspective?

546
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:29,560
Speaker 2: It was very shocking, Like immediately even just being in

547
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 2: performances in different ballets that are considered they're called the

548
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 2: white ballets, and you know, it was never even discussed

549
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 2: with me, like what I'd have to do in order

550
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,240
Speaker 2: to like, you know, paint my skin a lighter color

551
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 2: to fit in with the rest of the Court of

552
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:46,600
Speaker 2: Balet and things like that. That's when I really started

553
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:52,480
Speaker 2: to feel isolated and different, and I started to seek

554
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,960
Speaker 2: outside support and mentorship because there just wasn't around me.

555
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 2: And it wasn't even that like the company, like they

556
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 2: were my friends. You know, It's not like I was

557
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 2: like completely on my own and isolated, but there was

558
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:11,479
Speaker 2: just a lack of understanding of what it is to

559
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 2: be the only in a room, or some of the microaggressions,

560
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 2: and even something as simple as like it was saying

561
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 2: like having to I remember in particular, I think we

562
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,360
Speaker 2: were on the road in like Detroit or somewhere like touring,

563
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 2: and we were doing the Valet Gazelle and the second act,

564
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 2: all the willies in the Court of Balet. You know,

565
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,600
Speaker 2: we all put the pancake on our skin because we're

566
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 2: supposed to be dead, and it was just normal that,

567
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 2: you know, there's one color and they just pass it

568
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 2: around the room before the second act for everyone. I

569
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:40,760
Speaker 2: was like I can't wear this color, like all look

570
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 2: like I'm ashy, like I need lotion. And it was

571
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 2: just little things like that that just started to get

572
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 2: me thinking, like, there's not like history books that you

573
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,000
Speaker 2: can really open up and learn about other black dancers

574
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 2: that have been in these companies have been the only

575
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 2: in these companies they existed. So I just was like

576
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 2: on a mission to finding out who are these people?

577
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 2: I know I'm a part of something that's bigger than myself,

578
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 2: and how can I connect with this community that I

579
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 2: know is there?

580
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 1: So how quickly? At what point did you say okay?

581
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,360
Speaker 1: Well as well as dancing my tail off, like to

582
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 1: be in your real profession as a principal ballerina. In addition,

583
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 1: I'm going to create a whole body of work that's

584
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,120
Speaker 1: going to open the funnel for other women and girls

585
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:27,960
Speaker 1: to be in this profession.

586
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 2: Having amazing mentors in my life and black women that

587
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 2: I think allowed me to see myself in a different way,

588
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,400
Speaker 2: not that they were telling me how to see myself,

589
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,479
Speaker 2: but just seeing them existing in their fields as the

590
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 2: first and how I felt towards them, and then thinking, well,

591
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,680
Speaker 2: there's just me being on this stage at ABT is

592
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,960
Speaker 2: giving hope to you know, one person that might come

593
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 2: and see a performance and be able to see themselves

594
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,880
Speaker 2: represented on this stage. Allowed me to start to think

595
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,440
Speaker 2: beyond this kind of narrow career of like what it

596
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:07,960
Speaker 2: was growing up. It was like, I want to be

597
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 2: a soloist one day and then I want to be

598
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 2: a principal. But to me, this is so much bigger

599
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 2: than all of that, like this opportunity.

600
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 1: It was a handful of people who helped Misty turn

601
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:22,320
Speaker 1: that ambition into action. Her manager, Gilda Squire, showed Misty

602
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 1: how she could turn her incredible story of resilience into

603
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 1: something that can impact young girls and change the ballet

604
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 1: industry for generations to come.

605
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 2: She approached me, it was for pr and she was like,

606
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:36,240
Speaker 2: I'm just so fascinated with your story.

607
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:37,120
Speaker 1: I think more.

608
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,120
Speaker 2: People need to hear about about your story and where

609
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,320
Speaker 2: you come from and you've gotten here and you're you know,

610
00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 2: the first I was a second female African American soloist

611
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,160
Speaker 2: cit ABT at that time, and so she pro bono

612
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,680
Speaker 2: for a couple of months and was like, just let's.

613
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: See what we can do.

614
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,840
Speaker 2: You know what traction we can get And I would

615
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 2: just go to public schools and like speak to kids

616
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 2: and just say like, I'm a person like you know,

617
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,000
Speaker 2: I can't. I come from similar background as you and

618
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 2: like where I'm at. And it continued to grow, and

619
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 2: after you know, that time passed where she was like, Okay,

620
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,160
Speaker 2: well that's that, Like that was my time, and I

621
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 2: was like, what do you know? My manager, I didn't

622
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,760
Speaker 2: even really understood stand what that meant, but she saw

623
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 2: something in me that I think no one had ever seen.

624
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,120
Speaker 1: Once Missy's perspective on her career and impact shifted, she

625
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 1: began to find opportunities elsewhere, opportunities that aligned with her

626
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:35,120
Speaker 1: vision for a more inclusive future. And I feel like

627
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: things just kind of in the way that they have.

628
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 2: I think throughout my career that I've never really said Okay,

629
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,040
Speaker 2: I want to do this and then made it happen,

630
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 2: rather than like things just making sense and organically falling

631
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,040
Speaker 2: into place that are all aligned with the same goals

632
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 2: and the same missions as what I'm doing when I'm

633
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 2: on stage. You know, it's about representation, It's about showing

634
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 2: the beauty of this art form that it's an incredible

635
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:04,719
Speaker 2: way of communicating. It's just arts education, dance education is

636
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 2: so vital, and so everything that I do is really

637
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 2: connected to those you know, same goals.

638
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you were thinking of them as an extension

639
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,080
Speaker 1: of the work that you were doing, and they were

640
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,840
Speaker 1: contemporaneous in time. Were you thinking of them as well,

641
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,600
Speaker 1: you know, now I'll have a career income streams if

642
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 1: the dancing ends, because you know, one day it might end.

643
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:29,480
Speaker 1: And also you went through.

644
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,640
Speaker 2: Some pretty serious injuries. Yeah, you know, I never thought

645
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,760
Speaker 2: of it that way. I never thought like I need

646
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 2: to do these things in case, you know, I get

647
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 2: injured and I can't dance again, or because my career

648
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:43,720
Speaker 2: it will be over one day. I did them because

649
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,800
Speaker 2: they felt right. And again they've been happening throughout my career,

650
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 2: so it's not like it's like, you know, towards the

651
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 2: end and then I started doing all of these things.

652
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:55,840
Speaker 2: That's it really has been a slow growth through throughout

653
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 2: my career. But of course, like, yes, you know, I

654
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 2: think that something that I encourage young dancers and even

655
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 2: just even my colleagues, you know, to do is to

656
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 2: live your life, not to get so kind of immersed

657
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:13,239
Speaker 2: in this world that you aren't actually living and experiencing

658
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,719
Speaker 2: things and seeing things that might organically just come in

659
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:17,719
Speaker 2: or things that you think of that will draw you

660
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 2: in a certain path and direction. I think that no

661
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,279
Speaker 2: matter what people want to do, after being exposed to

662
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,840
Speaker 2: the arts, or exposed to dance or ballet in particular,

663
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 2: they're going to be great at whatever they do, because

664
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,640
Speaker 2: I think that, you know, we're taught to be focused

665
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 2: and disciplined, and our work ethic is like no other,

666
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:37,760
Speaker 2: and so you know, I don't think it's really about

667
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,120
Speaker 2: you know, trying to force a different career on yourself,

668
00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:43,319
Speaker 2: but just like allowing these things to happen, that those

669
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 2: things won't happen unless you go out and you explore

670
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 2: and experience, and you also, I think, will be a

671
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,360
Speaker 2: more full artist if you have those experiences as well.

672
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:55,640
Speaker 7: At this moment, I don't think ballet could be more

673
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 7: relevant in the world and in pop culture, and I

674
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 7: think that the arts to this in general for people,

675
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 7: which is why I think it's so vital for the

676
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 7: arts to be a part of our you know, education,

677
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 7: a part of it should be a part of our

678
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,279
Speaker 7: school curriculum, no matter what the art form is.

679
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 1: Her passion for ballet and the arts is reflected in

680
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,120
Speaker 1: one of her largest ventures to date, the Misty Copeland Foundation,

681
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:24,160
Speaker 1: which offers dance education through their program be Bold. So yeah,

682
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,760
Speaker 1: I mean it's just it started as this small idea,

683
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:30,800
Speaker 1: you know, and Darren Walker and encouraging me, and he

684
00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 1: introduced me to my philanthropic advisor, Jane poland He's really incredible,

685
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 1: and you know, it was like, well, what has ballet

686
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: given you that you would want to give back to

687
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 1: communities like.

688
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,040
Speaker 2: You came from and beyond. And you know, thinking back

689
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 2: on that first ballet class that I took, like, not

690
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,000
Speaker 2: every child, especially who comes from circumstances like I did,

691
00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 2: has access an opportunity, and that's what I was given

692
00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 2: at my Boys and Girls Club, you know, by them

693
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:05,200
Speaker 2: giving me this space and access with this teacher coming

694
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,920
Speaker 2: in to find more diverse students to bring in her

695
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,000
Speaker 2: school in full scholarship. So it was really taking that

696
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,160
Speaker 2: concept and idea but really shaking it.

697
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:13,480
Speaker 1: Up even more than that.

698
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,120
Speaker 2: So we built our first signature program under the Misty

699
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,320
Speaker 2: Couple Foundation is be BOLD and it stands for Ballet

700
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 2: Explorations Ballet offers leadership development. To me, it's bigger and

701
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,200
Speaker 2: goes beyond just a free ballet class. You know, we're

702
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:31,840
Speaker 2: not necessarily out there looking for the next ballet superstar.

703
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,600
Speaker 2: We're giving these children an opportunity to be in this space,

704
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 2: to have some sense of release and stress free where

705
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 2: their phones aren't in front of them or you know,

706
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,399
Speaker 2: just the stress of whatever is going on in their

707
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 2: lives before they make it to this after school program.

708
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,920
Speaker 2: And we've taken the concept of a ballet class and

709
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,640
Speaker 2: really kind of shaken it up as well. So you know,

710
00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 2: we're thinking right now, we're in the Bronx and we're

711
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 2: in Harlem. We're at fourteen sites and we have fifteen

712
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,440
Speaker 2: classes that are being offered at different community centers. We

713
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:06,279
Speaker 2: started out at just boys and girls clubs. What we've

714
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,359
Speaker 2: expanded beyond that because we really want to reach as

715
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,000
Speaker 2: many children as possible. But you know, thinking about this

716
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:14,720
Speaker 2: European art form and like, how will these kids connect

717
00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 2: to this bringing it into their communities. The goal of

718
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 2: the Mysticopal Foundation is to bring greater diversity, equity and

719
00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:27,680
Speaker 2: inclusion to dance, but especially ballet. Be Bold is the

720
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 2: first initiative.

721
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,719
Speaker 5: With the kids, and you're actually doing all of the

722
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,600
Speaker 5: things that eight years ago when we first interviewed you

723
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:36,440
Speaker 5: said you wanted to do, you're doing them.

724
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so we wanted to really take what ballet

725
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 2: is in terms of, you know, the foundation and the

726
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 2: technique and holding on to that, but doing it in

727
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 2: a way that is more accessible. We have live musicians

728
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:53,839
Speaker 2: in every class and it's not just piano, it's drummers

729
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:58,319
Speaker 2: and bass players and literally every musician you can think of.

730
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:01,560
Speaker 2: We want to be able to show these children that

731
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 2: you could move to anything, just finding fun and accessful

732
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:10,359
Speaker 2: ways of bringing them into the ballet community, and it's

733
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:14,920
Speaker 2: been very successful. Beyond her foundation, she also works in

734
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 2: the commercial space, bringing her expertise as an elite athlete

735
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,719
Speaker 2: to her partnership with under Armour, the first ballerina to

736
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 2: join an athletic brand, and eventually with her athletic wearline,

737
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:30,359
Speaker 2: Greatness Wins. It's really exciting that when I think back

738
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 2: to when I when I first joined under Armour and

739
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 2: what a big deal it was for a brand, and

740
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,720
Speaker 2: I feel like, you know, under Armour we really grew together.

741
00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:43,960
Speaker 2: Stephen Curry, you know, was really starting was like coming

742
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,440
Speaker 2: into his own and Jordan Spief and God.

743
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:48,040
Speaker 1: Who also was there there.

744
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,399
Speaker 2: I mean, there was some mega athletic stars and then

745
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,279
Speaker 2: for them to bring me in as you know, the

746
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,400
Speaker 2: first ballerina to be put, you know, next to these

747
00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,200
Speaker 2: big athletes was such a big deal. But it was

748
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,839
Speaker 2: like we we are equally as athletic, if not war

749
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,000
Speaker 2: and what the training is and what we have to do,

750
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:07,680
Speaker 2: and you know, we are artists as well and actors

751
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 2: and actresses, and we deserve to have opportunity, financial opportunities

752
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 2: like this in the same way the professional athletes do.

753
00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:17,879
Speaker 2: And so I've tried to think about ways in which

754
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 2: I could start my own line, and when I was

755
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 2: approached by Derek Jeter with this idea for this athletic

756
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,399
Speaker 2: unline Greatness Wins, it was like, this is what I've

757
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 2: been waiting for. This makes sense to not just be

758
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,640
Speaker 2: the Facebook product now at this point, but to be

759
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 2: a founder in the company. So it's really exciting to

760
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,880
Speaker 2: you know, Derek launch the line a year ago, the

761
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 2: men's line, and then I launched the women's line just

762
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:45,319
Speaker 2: a couple of months ago. So it's exciting, and you know,

763
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,920
Speaker 2: I think, what better people to have on on the

764
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 2: inside who understand what it is to be an athlete

765
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,440
Speaker 2: and actually wear this gear and how we can make

766
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,719
Speaker 2: it the best it can be. So it's a lot

767
00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:57,359
Speaker 2: to take on.

768
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:00,680
Speaker 1: How involved in it are you? Are you the design,

769
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 1: the product.

770
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:05,160
Speaker 2: Everything, I'm involved in everything. We're like a small but

771
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 2: mighty team and we're just you know, trying to show

772
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:12,239
Speaker 2: that this is a really great quality product. But I

773
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 2: think it's also about the stories that we're telling and

774
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,879
Speaker 2: that we're connecting with people. Like this is athletic where

775
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,440
Speaker 2: for everyone, but it's for people who are focused and

776
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,080
Speaker 2: really want to work in the gym or in the

777
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,840
Speaker 2: studio or wherever you are. That it's not an athletes

778
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,040
Speaker 2: your line. Yes, there are beautiful pieces that you can

779
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 2: wear that are comfortable, but it's really about serious athletes.

780
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,120
Speaker 2: And I don't mean that in a way of professional athletes,

781
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:35,880
Speaker 2: but people who are really you know, focused and dedicated

782
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,279
Speaker 2: on being you know.

783
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:40,560
Speaker 1: Their best selves. Okay, I have to ask you about

784
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: your performance Live with Taylor Swift.

785
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,319
Speaker 2: It was an incredible experience. Like I've worked with a

786
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:51,839
Speaker 2: lot of artists and especially musicians and incredible musicians, and

787
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:53,759
Speaker 2: you just never know what you're going to get.

788
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:58,160
Speaker 1: And I feel that doing this podcast.

789
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 2: You never know, you never know, and people are never

790
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:02,520
Speaker 2: really what you think they might be.

791
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:05,680
Speaker 1: And you're exactly what I thought you would be. You're

792
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:06,200
Speaker 1: very nice.

793
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,440
Speaker 2: Thank you. Well, She's everything I thought she would be,

794
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:11,840
Speaker 2: which was really incredible.

795
00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:12,120
Speaker 5: You know.

796
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 2: I remember she called up my manager and she was like,

797
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,759
Speaker 2: I really want miss to perform with me at the

798
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:21,840
Speaker 2: American Music Awards she was being honored, and I was like, oh, okay.

799
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,279
Speaker 2: I never imagined or thought about performing with her. And

800
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:28,759
Speaker 2: she was just she was so invested and so involved

801
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,440
Speaker 2: and so respectful. It wasn't like me and my partner

802
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:34,200
Speaker 2: were going up there as her backup dancers. Like she

803
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:38,239
Speaker 2: really acknowledged us as partners with her in this performance.

804
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:41,720
Speaker 2: And we spent hours and hours rehearsing together in the theater,

805
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,799
Speaker 2: and her whole family was there, and they're just all

806
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:48,000
Speaker 2: so grounded and so normal. I gets so wild when

807
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,880
Speaker 2: you meet someone that's like that much of a mega

808
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,520
Speaker 2: superstar and is normal. I mean Prince was not normal,

809
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:56,000
Speaker 2: and I mean that in the best way. I mean

810
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:59,759
Speaker 2: he was like a rock star, like it, you know,

811
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,600
Speaker 2: the classic idea of a rock star, and so it's

812
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:05,680
Speaker 2: like very different, you know people.

813
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,839
Speaker 1: So for the process for the performance that you did

814
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,480
Speaker 1: both with Prince and with Taylor Swift was it a

815
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:14,880
Speaker 1: collaborative creation process, like did you choreograph it? Kind of

816
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:16,120
Speaker 1: on the music with her.

817
00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:19,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, So she sent the music ahead of time and

818
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:23,320
Speaker 2: I had a choreographer, but we were literally sending her

819
00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:27,239
Speaker 2: videos of these rehearsals as it was being created, and

820
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:29,480
Speaker 2: she was like approving or saying like this would work

821
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:31,279
Speaker 2: better if you're over here. The piano is going to

822
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 2: be here, and I want to sing to you at

823
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:34,080
Speaker 2: this point.

824
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:35,719
Speaker 1: So it was very collaborative.

825
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:37,759
Speaker 2: With Prince, it was like a mix of things because

826
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:39,880
Speaker 2: I worked with him over the course of like five years.

827
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,279
Speaker 2: Where you know, when I first started working with him,

828
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,399
Speaker 2: he was like, oh, just improvise and make up stuff

829
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 2: on the stage, and I was like, what, like as

830
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:48,440
Speaker 2: ballet dancers, Like yeah, that's not something you're learned to do.

831
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:50,800
Speaker 2: It's like you're told what to do down to like

832
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:53,160
Speaker 2: where your eyes are looking at like every moment, and

833
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 2: so it was like shocking, but I grew so much

834
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:56,799
Speaker 2: as an artist working with him.

835
00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:58,200
Speaker 1: But then later on we.

836
00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:00,279
Speaker 2: Were working together, he was like, oh, you know, you

837
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:02,719
Speaker 2: can bring a choreographer in, but then he ended up

838
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:07,920
Speaker 2: choreographing it himself, like literally he was like no, no, no,

839
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:09,560
Speaker 2: this is what I want you to do, And I'm like,

840
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 2: all right, I'll turn that into a ballet move. I

841
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:13,440
Speaker 2: guess like what he's doing.

842
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:17,759
Speaker 1: When I watched your performance with Taylor Swift, the way

843
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,200
Speaker 1: that it flows, she goes like, you know, nine minutes

844
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,480
Speaker 1: that builds and builds and builds, and it's so wild

845
00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,480
Speaker 1: and then it slows down to this beautiful moment with

846
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:30,279
Speaker 1: you dancing and her at the piano. And as I

847
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:33,000
Speaker 1: was watching it, I had in my head you saying, well,

848
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:37,080
Speaker 1: as ballet dancers were not used to seeing an active audience, right,

849
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:39,759
Speaker 1: And I thought, oh, my goodness, how did you take

850
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:43,080
Speaker 1: your adrenaline down to be in that moment? It's really hard.

851
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,920
Speaker 2: I mean, I has such a different experience again, like

852
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,520
Speaker 2: you were saying, you know, usually where you don't see

853
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,440
Speaker 2: you can't even see people, And that was what That's

854
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:54,920
Speaker 2: what I've loved about, you know, performing in this kind

855
00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:59,239
Speaker 2: of concert field where you're in a theater, where you

856
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,440
Speaker 2: feel like you're in this kind of secure bubble.

857
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:03,800
Speaker 1: And then when you're.

858
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:07,879
Speaker 2: In those spaces, it's just like there's no rules and yeah,

859
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:10,399
Speaker 2: it's like you have to stay grounded. You can't get

860
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,840
Speaker 2: carried away with all the like hype and chaos that

861
00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:17,279
Speaker 2: you're seeing, which is harder to stay focused, and like

862
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,360
Speaker 2: when someone's looking at you or whistling or wanting to

863
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,640
Speaker 2: throw something on the stage and you're in point shoes.

864
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,719
Speaker 1: Recently, Misty became a mother, and when she speaks about

865
00:44:26,719 --> 00:44:30,880
Speaker 1: her son, she glows. It's clear that she's excited and

866
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:32,759
Speaker 1: ready for this new chapter of her life.

867
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:37,799
Speaker 2: I'm very fortunate that I was able to have a

868
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:42,439
Speaker 2: baby at thirty nine. That's not always the case. It's

869
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:46,160
Speaker 2: just amazing to people to step back and really focus

870
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:48,880
Speaker 2: on family, you know, at forty years old. And we

871
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:52,640
Speaker 2: were talking earlier about you know how difficult it is

872
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:57,160
Speaker 2: for working women to set aside the time to have

873
00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:59,520
Speaker 2: a family, and especially being an athlete and being a

874
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 2: performed I'm so grateful for the career that I've had,

875
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 2: but it's it's difficult, you know, to find that balance.

876
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:12,480
Speaker 2: And I'm just lucky to have him. And I have

877
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:16,239
Speaker 2: friends who have waited until their careers have been over

878
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:18,440
Speaker 2: towards the end of their careers, and they have they're

879
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:22,240
Speaker 2: struggling or just can't and it's really difficult to watch.

880
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,960
Speaker 2: But you know, I always knew that I wanted to

881
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,399
Speaker 2: wait until I got to a certain place in my career.

882
00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:29,759
Speaker 2: Before I did that. I know that had I been

883
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,960
Speaker 2: a soloist and had a baby, there's no way that

884
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 2: and it's so terrible to say, but that they would

885
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,680
Speaker 2: have taken me seriously and continued to give me opportunities,

886
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:39,680
Speaker 2: and that time I would have been out and wanted

887
00:45:39,719 --> 00:45:41,800
Speaker 2: to be with my baby, I would have been pushed

888
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,359
Speaker 2: to the side, and other opportunities would have been given away.

889
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:46,439
Speaker 2: And so I knew that I wanted to wait until

890
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:48,960
Speaker 2: I was a principal dancer. I was thirty two when

891
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:57,279
Speaker 2: I was promoted to principal, a moment.

892
00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:01,920
Speaker 4: In history shared on Instagram answer Misty Copeland is celebrating

893
00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:05,760
Speaker 4: with her fellow dancers after learning of her promotion, becoming

894
00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,440
Speaker 4: the first African American female principle in the American Ballet

895
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:14,160
Speaker 4: theaters seventy five year history, the highest honor for a performer.

896
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:16,680
Speaker 2: But then like you get to that place and you're like,

897
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,239
Speaker 2: but I need to actually be a principal dancer now.

898
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,680
Speaker 2: So it was like five years I waited, and then

899
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:25,120
Speaker 2: you know, the pandemic happened, and which was perfect timing

900
00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:26,920
Speaker 2: for me to be able to just kind of take

901
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:30,600
Speaker 2: a moment, after you know, being a professional for twenty

902
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,560
Speaker 2: years and really not stopping unless I had an injury,

903
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:36,919
Speaker 2: to really step back and say, there's so many more

904
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,400
Speaker 2: things I want to do that I've kind of started,

905
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:42,440
Speaker 2: but now I can really focus.

906
00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:45,719
Speaker 1: So I mean, the pandemic was terrible for everybody, I think,

907
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:49,279
Speaker 1: particularly people in the performing arts because there was no

908
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:50,959
Speaker 1: light at the end of the tunnel, But it did

909
00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:55,360
Speaker 1: give you that time, the opportunity to expand on these things.

910
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:57,839
Speaker 1: How quickly did you jump into it and how did

911
00:46:57,840 --> 00:46:59,000
Speaker 1: you decide to use your time?

912
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,040
Speaker 2: I jumped immediately. I feel like that was such a

913
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,520
Speaker 2: difficult time for us in the performing arts, but it

914
00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:09,440
Speaker 2: allowed us to have some step back and have some perspective,

915
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:13,040
Speaker 2: you know, to really realize that there are so many

916
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:16,520
Speaker 2: things we need to be doing to memorialize like what

917
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:19,960
Speaker 2: we do, you know, with all of the union rules

918
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:21,920
Speaker 2: and things like that, Like we don't have at least

919
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,319
Speaker 2: at American Ballet Theater, and I think more specifically in

920
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:26,960
Speaker 2: the United States, we don't have access to be being

921
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:31,160
Speaker 2: able to film record a lot of our performances. There's

922
00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:34,319
Speaker 2: so many rules and things like that, and I think

923
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:36,960
Speaker 2: We really realized it during the pandemic, where it was like, well,

924
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:39,640
Speaker 2: what are we going to show? We don't have anything

925
00:47:39,719 --> 00:47:42,360
Speaker 2: to show, and so that really made me start to

926
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,680
Speaker 2: think about my production company, which was already formed, I

927
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:48,279
Speaker 2: don't know, three or four years before the pandemic, but like,

928
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:52,399
Speaker 2: this is an opportunity to capture movement on my own

929
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:55,840
Speaker 2: terms in spaces that looking at a theater in a

930
00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:58,680
Speaker 2: different way, like it doesn't have to be a traditional theater.

931
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:03,240
Speaker 2: We created our film Flower, which is a short film

932
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:07,439
Speaker 2: and using the streets of Oakland for our stage. Stee

933
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:11,200
Speaker 2: Copeland is blending art and activism through her latest project, Flower.

934
00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:13,960
Speaker 8: It's a twenty eight minute film that pays homage to

935
00:48:14,239 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 8: black silent films of the nineteen twenties. Flower premiere at

936
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:20,000
Speaker 8: Tribeca Festival and you can see it this Saturday at

937
00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:21,640
Speaker 8: Lincoln Centerox.

938
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,759
Speaker 7: We are officially on the red carpet for Flower, and

939
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:26,479
Speaker 7: trust me, you want to stick around.

940
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:28,120
Speaker 1: We got a lot of stars coming up and we

941
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:28,799
Speaker 1: are at the.

942
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:32,160
Speaker 2: Telling stories that are relevant to what we're going through,

943
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:35,000
Speaker 2: not just as Americans but in the world, you know,

944
00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:39,719
Speaker 2: dealing with homelessness and the housing crisis and gentrification and

945
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,120
Speaker 2: so you know, it just kind of expanded and opened

946
00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:47,440
Speaker 2: my eyes to ways I could use what I've learned

947
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:50,120
Speaker 2: on stage to do so many different things.

948
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:55,880
Speaker 1: From that quiet girl from coastal California to now impacting

949
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,160
Speaker 1: change at the highest levels. Misty has become more and

950
00:48:59,200 --> 00:49:01,759
Speaker 1: more comfortable, has a seat at tables and boards that

951
00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:04,400
Speaker 1: can truly make impactful change.

952
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:07,400
Speaker 2: And then I also was having conversation with Alex Poots,

953
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:10,399
Speaker 2: the artistic director of The Shed, and you know, we

954
00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:12,719
Speaker 2: had come up with a bunch of ideas that never

955
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:14,920
Speaker 2: really came to fruition. But I ended up joining the

956
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:18,040
Speaker 2: board of The Shed, you know, which was a really

957
00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:21,600
Speaker 2: big steps as an artist, as an athlete, as a

958
00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 2: black woman to be on the other end of things.

959
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:28,000
Speaker 2: And then shortly thereafter I ended up joining the board

960
00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:31,000
Speaker 2: of Lincoln Center. And this is all during the pandemic.

961
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:34,319
Speaker 2: And to me, I've always talked about like, how do

962
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:38,839
Speaker 2: we really make impactful change within the dance world. And

963
00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:40,840
Speaker 2: I think that, you know, to be able to see

964
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:43,759
Speaker 2: more inclusion and more diversity, I think it starts from

965
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:45,719
Speaker 2: the top. It starts from the board of directors. So

966
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:47,960
Speaker 2: to be able to have a presence and have a

967
00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:50,680
Speaker 2: voice in those spaces to me, is how we really

968
00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:54,080
Speaker 2: see real like systemic change.

969
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:56,879
Speaker 1: You had said over the summer that you thought this

970
00:49:57,040 --> 00:49:58,720
Speaker 1: fall you were going to be dancing again.

971
00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:03,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the idea.

972
00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:06,400
Speaker 1: Not to be a spoiler alerd here, but it is

973
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:08,760
Speaker 1: no longer the thought. It didn't happen.

974
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:09,760
Speaker 2: That didn't happen.

975
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:10,000
Speaker 6: No.

976
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:13,480
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like I've gotten so much momentum

977
00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,000
Speaker 2: with all of these things, and I'm so hands on

978
00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:18,439
Speaker 2: with everything that there was like there was no way

979
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:22,880
Speaker 2: that I could step away. And I've dedicated twenty three years,

980
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:26,600
Speaker 2: you know, to being a professional, and now I think

981
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:29,600
Speaker 2: it's time to focus on these other things, you know,

982
00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:33,440
Speaker 2: while while they have you know, this this momentum going

983
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:36,319
Speaker 2: and I want to continue to grow my family as well,

984
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:38,799
Speaker 2: so we'll see. I know that dance well, dance will

985
00:50:38,840 --> 00:50:40,800
Speaker 2: always be in my life. It's everything that I'm doing

986
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:44,080
Speaker 2: outside of being on the stage. But I know that

987
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:47,879
Speaker 2: I will make it back to the stage in some capacity,

988
00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:50,479
Speaker 2: but I don't know what that will look like right now.

989
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:55,200
Speaker 1: Oh I love that. So looking back, what's one thing

990
00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:57,960
Speaker 1: that at the time you thought, oh, this is this

991
00:50:58,080 --> 00:51:00,319
Speaker 1: is really a setback? Like this is really this is

992
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:02,160
Speaker 1: really a Dane and now you look at it as

993
00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:06,239
Speaker 1: having changed your mindset. So it really launched you, I

994
00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:06,920
Speaker 1: would say.

995
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:10,520
Speaker 2: My biggest injury. You know, there were moments where the

996
00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:13,359
Speaker 2: night before I pulled out of the season, I had

997
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:16,320
Speaker 2: performed the Firebird for the first time at the Metropaltan

998
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:19,480
Speaker 2: Opera House. It was the first time we saw almost

999
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,279
Speaker 2: what was a full house, but more than half of

1000
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:25,640
Speaker 2: the audience were black and brown people, and it was

1001
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:30,640
Speaker 2: just such an incredible experience to see this transformation of

1002
00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:34,360
Speaker 2: people that are interested in classical ballet and actually showing

1003
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:37,480
Speaker 2: up in a space that they haven't always felt welcomed.

1004
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:40,560
Speaker 2: And the following day I pulled out and I was like,

1005
00:51:40,640 --> 00:51:43,680
Speaker 2: I don't you know that performance needed to happen. Whether

1006
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:45,680
Speaker 2: or not my leg was going to break in the

1007
00:51:45,719 --> 00:51:49,520
Speaker 2: middle of it or not, it needed to happen because

1008
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:50,440
Speaker 2: this is bigger than me.

1009
00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:52,200
Speaker 1: It's like, we did it.

1010
00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:54,680
Speaker 2: We got all of those people in the room, and

1011
00:51:54,719 --> 00:51:57,680
Speaker 2: then it was like, Okay, well now what And I

1012
00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:00,840
Speaker 2: think that I learned so much from that experience. Set again,

1013
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:04,120
Speaker 2: it's like, it's not about me as an individual, but

1014
00:52:04,239 --> 00:52:07,399
Speaker 2: it's about how can I use my voice and use

1015
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:11,080
Speaker 2: my platform to bring about change, and I think that

1016
00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:14,120
Speaker 2: that just made me feel like I could do anything,

1017
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:18,040
Speaker 2: that there's so much more there that I'm never going

1018
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:20,680
Speaker 2: to be that dnswer I was before that injury. I'm

1019
00:52:20,719 --> 00:52:23,080
Speaker 2: never going to be that woman I was before I

1020
00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:26,280
Speaker 2: had a baby, you know, Like, but we should be evolving,

1021
00:52:26,320 --> 00:52:29,719
Speaker 2: We should be continuing to pivot throughout our lives. That's

1022
00:52:29,719 --> 00:52:33,880
Speaker 2: how we continue to evolve as you know, a society,

1023
00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,520
Speaker 2: and so I think it's so important that we're always

1024
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:40,319
Speaker 2: thinking about how we can continue to grow and be

1025
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:43,360
Speaker 2: better than who we used to be and also inspire

1026
00:52:43,400 --> 00:52:46,040
Speaker 2: the next generation to be better than we are.

1027
00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:49,560
Speaker 1: So, you know, given all of your work on stage

1028
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:52,440
Speaker 1: off stage, what do you want your legacy to be?

1029
00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:55,600
Speaker 1: That's such a hard question, you know.

1030
00:52:55,680 --> 00:52:59,640
Speaker 2: I really hope to just have had an impact on

1031
00:52:59,719 --> 00:53:05,040
Speaker 2: the community that we really do see meaningful change and growth,

1032
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:08,120
Speaker 2: because I feel like we've existed in this bubble for

1033
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:12,480
Speaker 2: so long and haven't been forced to be more inclusive.

1034
00:53:12,640 --> 00:53:15,160
Speaker 2: And I hope that that's what I've done. I hope

1035
00:53:15,160 --> 00:53:19,080
Speaker 2: that I've you know, shown people, taught people about different

1036
00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:22,280
Speaker 2: black and brown dancers throughout history that maybe they haven't

1037
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:26,560
Speaker 2: known about or that our history books don't share. I

1038
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:29,920
Speaker 2: want my legacy to be that I am a storyteller,

1039
00:53:30,080 --> 00:53:34,120
Speaker 2: and not just of the traditional historical ballets, but of

1040
00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:36,000
Speaker 2: what ballet could look like for the future.

1041
00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:38,920
Speaker 1: Oh I love that well. Thank you so much for

1042
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:44,880
Speaker 1: joining us and so great for having me. Misty is

1043
00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:48,839
Speaker 1: continuing to grow the Misty Copeland Foundation and her athletic wear,

1044
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 1: all while balancing becoming a mother. If you want to

1045
00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:55,080
Speaker 1: dive into Misty's incredible story, be sure to read her

1046
00:53:55,120 --> 00:53:59,439
Speaker 1: New York Times bestselling memoir Life and Motion. Misty says

1047
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:01,759
Speaker 1: she hopes to return to the stage, so be sure

1048
00:54:01,760 --> 00:54:04,440
Speaker 1: to follow her on Instagram at Misty on Point so

1049
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:10,880
Speaker 1: you don't miss it. Thanks for listening to this episode

1050
00:54:10,920 --> 00:54:13,879
Speaker 1: of She Pivots. If you made it this far, you're

1051
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:16,719
Speaker 1: a true pivoter, So thanks for being part of this community.

1052
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:19,680
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did

1053
00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:22,520
Speaker 1: leave us a rating, please be nice tell your friends

1054
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:25,480
Speaker 1: about us. To learn more about our guests, follow us

1055
00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:28,839
Speaker 1: on Instagram at she Pivots the Podcast, or sign up

1056
00:54:28,840 --> 00:54:31,160
Speaker 1: for our newsletter where you can get exclusive behind the

1057
00:54:31,160 --> 00:54:34,239
Speaker 1: scenes content, or on our website, She Pivots the Podcast.

1058
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:37,840
Speaker 1: Talk to you Next Week special thanks to the she

1059
00:54:38,040 --> 00:54:42,759
Speaker 1: Pivots team. Executive producer Emily eda Velosik, Associate producer and

1060
00:54:42,840 --> 00:54:48,080
Speaker 1: social media connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson, Events

1061
00:54:48,080 --> 00:54:52,120
Speaker 1: and Logistics coordinator Madeline Sonovak, and audio editor and mixer

1062
00:54:52,320 --> 00:55:04,160
Speaker 1: Nina pollock I endorseh she Pivots