Misty Copeland,
welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you so much for having me.
Um, you are one
of the most accomplished ballet dancers in the world.
You're also one of the most recognizable faces in the world
not just because of how good you are
but because of how many boundaries
and how many barriers you broke down
in just doing what you do.
You know, being the first Black lead in Swan Lake,
being the first Black principal dancer
in a major ballet company.
These are huge, huge, huge achievements.
And now you've written a picture book
that really inspires kids to follow in your footsteps.
But I read this book, and I was like,
"I don't think anyone can follow in your footsteps.
Aren't you setting me up for failure?"
(laughs) Oh, man.
You know, something that I wanted to do...
that I... that I do and carry in-in everything that I do
in my life and in my career is, um,
is really bring ballet to more people
and educate people on what it is.
You know, there-there are so many misconceptions
and, uh, preconceived notions and tropes
that come along with being a ballerina,
uh, in film, in television and in media
that just aren't... aren't our reality.
You know, we're-we're not living in the Black Swan movie.
Uh, we, you know, come into dance
to find, uh, a way of expressing ourselves,
to find happiness,
to, uh, to find beauty and joy.
And, so, that's something that I've always wanted to highlight,
the camaraderie, the relationships that develop.
And, so, within Bunheads,
uh, you know, we have this misfit group of...
a diverse group of characters.
-There's boys. -Uh-huh.
They're of all ages and backgrounds.
Uh, we have myself, a young Misty,
at her first day in ballet class.
Uh, we have my best friend, Catalina, which--
we call her Cat-- who's a Mexican American girl
who was my actual best friend growing up.
And I just wanted to show that we can, like,
find differences in one another
and learn from those differences
and grow and support one another,
which I think is such a huge part
of the ballet community.
Yeah, it's-it's a really powerful story
because so many of the things that you deal with
not just in this book but in your life
really relate to what people have been talking more about,
it feels like, in 2020,
and that is how do we make spaces more equitable?
How do we give people an equal opportunity to succeed?
You know, for a long time, people would say,
"Well, I mean, it... I mean,
"you can do ballet if you want to do it.
It doesn't matter what the color of your skin is."
But you learned very early on that it did matter.
People said to you, "Oh, no, your body type is too muscular."
And, you know, we-we've seen a lot of these narratives.
You saw it with the Williams sisters in-in tennis
where they were like, "Well, they're not, you know,
classic tennis players in the way they look."
It's-it's a theme that we see over and over again.
Once you're in those spaces, what have you done
to try and change the ideas that exist
within the world of ballet that's seen as a white space?
I mean, you-you kind of just hit it right there.
I mean, so much of the language I had to, like, decipher
and, uh, really understand that it's code.
It's-it's this code language that the ballet world
and so much of the white world has been able to get away with.
You know, we're in, um, a-a visual art form
that's about your aesthetics, so it seems acceptable to say,
you know, "I'm sorry, you just don't have the right body type."
-Mm-hmm. -It was like, "What does that mean?"
-Wow. -Well, I have brown skin.
It means the girls standing next to me
have just as big of muscles and breasts,
and they are not being told that.
Um, so, so much of it has really been
just knowing how to navigate, uh,
in a way that, you know, uh, is palatable
for white people in the ballet world
but that's honest
and allows people to really understand
the-the underlying narrative that's being...
that's been a part of the ballet culture
and community from the beginning of time.
You've inspired so many people with your story,
and you are one of the few people on this planet
who could say that Prince was inspired by you,
which still blows my mind because Prince was an enigma.
I mean, I met him once,
and he seemed to know everything about everything.
And I found it really interesting that for him,
Misty Copeland was-was a source of inspiration.
What do you think it was
that connected you and the late, great Prince?
Hmm. I'm so happy
that you had a chance to meet him, first of all.
Um, you know, he's someone that was con...
just constantly educating himself.
You know, he was so invested and involved
in learning about the next generation
and what people were doing,
-whether it was in politics or art and music. -Right.
I mean, it was such an honor to even have an opportunity
to share the stage with him and to collaborate,
and he gave me so much confidence
and belief in myself to be able to be a free artist.
And as dancers, especially as a Black ballet dancer,
we often aren't given that freedom.
We're told what to do. We're doing the steps
from, you know, hundreds-of-year-old ballets
and just don't have the freedom to create
and-and bring our own selves to it.
What I've really enjoyed watching
is how now you've been responding
to what's happened due to the coronavirus.
One of the biggest areas
that's been devastated by the coronavirus
has been the arts.
And sometimes people take it for granted,
but, I mean, the arts is...
You know, it's sometimes the fabric of how we live our lives.
It's the music that's playing in the background.
It's-it's the thing we watch
to take our minds off how hard life can be.
I know that you've got a program where you set out
to try and keep, uh, whether...
you know, dancers just living during this time.
Uh, what is the program,
and-and why do you feel it's so important
to keep the world of ballet alive?
I-I know that in times of crisis like this,
people congregate towards art and music.
It-it feels as though, uh,
it's kind of this frivolous thing
in times like that, but it's not.
And-and, you know, as elite,
um, as ballet seems,
we are not making a lot of money.
Well, I'm not gonna say "we," because I have
a lot of other projects going on and endorsement deals,
so I'm not gonna include myself in that category.
But as professional dancers,
they do not make the money they should be making
like professional athletes do,
uh, and deserve to be making.
Um, so, you know, I really felt that it was my responsibility
with the platform and the reach that I have
to use this time to bring awareness
to the, you know, what dancers are going through.
Uh, so I started, uh...
I-I cofounded Swans for Relief with a coworker of mine,
Joseph Phillips, who is in a company
in the Philippines in Manila.
And, um, we decided...
You know, I decided to call on all of my ballerina sisters
and forces from around the globe.
And I ended up with 32 ballerinas
from 22 different professional top companies.
And from 14 different countries.
And we came together and we performed one, uh,
very iconic variation, uh, to raise, uh,
funds and bring awareness to, um,
each-each ballerinas respective COVID-19 relief funds.
So you can go, uh, to Go Fund Me and Swans for Relief
and donate.
Misty Copeland, thank you for inspiring us.
Thank you for the work that you're doing.
And, uh, thank you so much joining me on the show.
Thank you so much for having me.