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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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Misty Copeland
Age: 42
Born: 1982
Born: September 10
Actor
Author
Ballet Dancer
Dancer
Kansas City
Missouri
Misty Danielle Copeland
Life
Middle
Danced
Seeing
Ballet
Found
Exposed
School
Discovered
Whole
Dance
Something
Training
Always
Inside
Never
Teacher

More quotes by Misty Copeland

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My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I'm in my gym clothes and my socks trying to do this thing called ballet.
Misty Copeland
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That it's possible to do positive things and I think that's how we're going to set an example to be respected as women in the world.
Misty Copeland
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I know I will never let myself be complacent in life.
Misty Copeland
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Without my mentors there is no Misty.
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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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 think that training is the key, definitely, and I devoted my life to it.
Misty Copeland
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I believe I am yet to dance my favorite role, but I am pretty open to adapting to different characters. I would love to be Odette in Swan Lake one day. I think that would be the ultimate role.
Misty Copeland
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Ballet.something pure in this crazy world
Misty Copeland
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I shouldn't even be wearing a tutu. I don't have the right legs, my muscles are too big.
Misty Copeland
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I think anything that affects me in my personal life is going to help me be a better artist on stage.
Misty Copeland
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When people meet me in person, they're usually surprised at how petite I am because there's just [an] idea that because I'm black I just look a certain way.
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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But I think the more you eat healthy clean foods the more you create them.
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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Different mentors throughout my life have supported and guided me to remember that I do have the strength, courage and talent to do whatever I want to do.
Misty Copeland
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Success is not easy and I think everyone should know that hard work and perseverance and being open to giving back are so much more powerful than stepping all over people to get to the top.
Misty Copeland
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I will never be the best dancer or artist. I will be growing until the day I retire.
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 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