30 Under 30: Misty Copeland

Name: Misty Copeland | Ballerina

Age: 28

A soloist for the American Ballet Theatre, one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States, Misty is considered a prodigy, and has danced Kitri in Don Quixote, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty.

Some of her career highlights include being featured in T-Mobile’s ads for the BlackBerry, being selected by Essence as one of its 37 Boundary-breaking black women in entertainment during Black History Month, and performing alongside Prince on the “Lopez Show”, dancing to the song “The Beautiful Ones.” Misty was also receipient of a 2008 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts.

What we can expect in the future is her accomplishing her goal to be the first African American female Principal at American Ballet Theatre. Being a ballerina is a beautiful fairytale for most little girls, and we hope to see her continue to make that fairytale shine in “color”, as a leading African American ballerina.