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Once I became a professional, maybe 19 or 20, I really started to try to figure out who I was, as a woman and as an individual.

Misty Copeland

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Misty Copeland
Age: 42
Born: 1982
Born: September 10
Actor
Author
Ballet Dancer
Dancer
Kansas City
Missouri
Misty Danielle Copeland
Maybe
Woman
Individual
Trying
Professional
Really
Figure
Became
Figures
Started

More quotes by Misty Copeland

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Something happens when you feel that energy and excitement from the audience. And you do, I don't know, four pirouettes. You jump higher than you ever have. And it's just this really magical thing that happens in those moments.
Misty Copeland
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I haven’t come from the typical path or background of someone who would make it to this level as a ballerina. When it came to my childhood-growing up in a single-parent home, often struggling financially-my mother definitely instilled in me and my siblings this strength, this will, to just continue to survive and succeed.
Misty Copeland
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I was aware of my race from a very young age. Not in a negative way. Coming from an interracial background, I think it is important to understand who you are.
Misty Copeland
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My goal has always been to be a principal dancer with ABT.
Misty Copeland
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The woman represents ballet. She is most important, powerful and vital to it. Therefore, she is not less than a man. If anything she is more than in this field.
Misty Copeland
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The fact that I was African American was never addressed, and that allowed me to just be a student, like anyone else. I was not aware of how rare it was to be an African American, how rare it was to have four years of training under my belt, and how, even though I could imitate people and fake it, unprepared I was to become a professional.
Misty Copeland
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A lot of people think, Oh I'm going to eat whatever I want and then go to the gym. And I've definitely been one of those people and it just doesn't give me the results that I need to have the physique of a ballerina.
Misty Copeland
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I don't think every African-American or Latino have the same body type, but, yes, that's been one of the excuses ... saying that African-Americans are too muscular or just aren't lean enough. Usually they say, Oh, they have flat feet so they just don't have the flexibility that it takes to create the line in a point shoe.
Misty Copeland
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I was 17 when I moved to NYC . I'm now 32. But I do know I can't see myself living anywhere else. I love the food, the fashion, art, the intelligence of this city and the people that live in it.
Misty Copeland
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The best piece of advice that I remember probably on a daily basis is to accept everything about me that is different. That is what makes me special.
Misty Copeland
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I definitely like to be natural and more relaxed and not wear a lot of makeup.
Misty Copeland
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I never experienced getting nervous on stage. I think I was most comfortable there.
Misty Copeland
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I know I will never let myself be complacent in life.
Misty Copeland
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My career came together very quickly. I only trained for four years before I became a professional, so I didn't have a lot of time to sit back and be inspired before I took my first ballet class.
Misty Copeland
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When you see the body outside of a costume and see the strength that it takes, people would look at dance a different way and see how athletic it is. You're not just born like that.
Misty Copeland
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Ballet found me. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced, my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me.
Misty Copeland
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But I think the more you eat healthy clean foods the more you create them.
Misty Copeland
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My body is very different from most of the dancers I dance with. My hair is different than most I dance with. But I didn't let that stop me. Black girls rock and can be ballerinas.
Misty Copeland
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I just try to approach every opportunity on stage, as if it's my first time and my last time.
Misty Copeland
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I will never reach perfection.
Misty Copeland