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Becoming Amazing
Even under the best circumstances, with conditions just right for success, it is very difficult to become a skilled ballet dancer. It takes years of hard work, training and sacrifice from a young age. Few succeed. Yet Misty Copeland was able to rise from a difficult life situation to become a dancer for the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). And she didn’t just become a ballerina—she became a star. Copeland was born in 1982, in the American state of Missouri. She and her five sisters and brothers had an unsettled life. Their mother had little money, and they moved often. Copeland was a shy and anxious child who found comfort in making up dance routines to popular Mariah Carey songs. After moving to the state of California, she became the captain of her secondary-school drill team, a dance group that performed at school events. Her coach, Elizabeth Cantine, saw something special in her right away. Cantine suggested that Copeland attend ballet class at the neighbourhood community centre. It was there that Copeland met Cindy Bradley, her first ballet teacher. Bradley saw something special in Copeland, too. At thirteen years old, Copeland had had no ballet training. By her age, ballet dancers usually had been training for years. Despite this, Copeland was able to learn ballet moves almost immediately. Bradley was so impressed with Copeland’s natural talent that she pictured Copeland ‘becoming amazing’. And Copeland did become amazing. She started winning national ballet competitions, and when she was fourteen, she got her first solo role. At age fifteen, she won first place in the Los Angeles Music Centre Spotlight Awards. Copeland continued to study ballet over the next three years. Then, after attending a summer programme at ABT, she was invited to join the company as a professional dancer. She was eighteen years old, and on her way to greatness!
Yet Copeland had more challenges ahead. A few months after joining ABT, she broke her spine while dancing. She had to stop dancing and wear a back brace almost all day, every day. The injury could have ended her career, but Copeland refused to quit. As soon as she was able, she went right back to dancing. Then, a few years later, she broke another bone while dancing, this time in her left leg. She had to have an operation, which left her unable to walk for weeks. Copeland never gave up, though, and her determination paid off. In 2015, she danced the lead role in one of the world’s most famous ballets, Swan Lake. Soon after, she became the first African American woman to be named an ABT principal dancer. She had achieved greatness!
Copeland’s success made her a role model for others, too. She was on the cover of Time magazine as one of the ‘100 Most Influential People’ in 2015. She wrote a best-selling book about her life, called Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. She also wrote a children’s book, Firebird, in which she tells others like herself that they, too, can become amazing.