Misty Copeland Quotes

“Dance kind of was always just a part of my natural state as a child. It's something that, whenever music was playing, I was dancing.”

— Misty Copeland

“Depending on the level you're at in your company, the higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance.”

— Misty Copeland

“I don't eat a ton of pasta or bread. But I eat dessert almost every night, and I drink. You need a bit of balance, and I've found mine.”

— Misty Copeland

“I had always been proud of my body - its strength and grace enabled me to pursue my passions.”

— Misty Copeland

“I think I get almost every piece of clothing that I buy altered and taken in just to fit me exactly the way it should.”

— Misty Copeland

“I think, as a child, there weren't dreams. I can't recall as a child having some ultimate dream and thinking that it was possible.”

— Misty Copeland

My childhood is a part of my story, and it's why I'm who I am today and why my career is what it is.

— Misty Copeland

“The ballet world I don't think is an art form that is quick to change or to adjust or evolve.”

— Misty Copeland

The classical ballet world is so exclusive and small, and a lot of people don't know about it.

— Misty Copeland

Though I have tremendous support from lots of people, there are so many others waiting to tear me down.

— Misty Copeland

“To be empathetic to everyone around you, I think, is such a powerful thing to hold.”

— Misty Copeland

“Ballet found me, I guess you could say. 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. I would love to choreograph and dance around.”

— Misty Copeland

“Being in ballet class, being on the stage, being surrounded by my peers at American Ballet Theater every day, keeps me so humble and grounded. Being in ballet class, I feel, is like this meditation for me every morning.”

— Misty Copeland

“Being the only African American at this level in American Ballet Theater, I feel like people are looking at me, and it's my responsibility for me to do whatever I can to provide these opportunities in communities to be able to educate them.”

— Misty Copeland

“Finding ballet gave me passion for the first time in my life. I was always very shy and just wanted to fit in; I never daydreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. But dancing gave me a connection to my personality that made me grow.”

— Misty Copeland

Finding great training, I think, is number one. I did a lot of research and found really great teachers, and it just takes - I took a year off from school and did independent studies so that I could devote all of my time to it. But I think that training is the key, definitely, and it's not a sport.

— Misty Copeland

“Growing up, I was surrounded by R&B and Hip-Hop, and the closest thing I could find to dance was gymnastics which I watched on TV. So, I just used those avenues I found available right in my milieu to express what was inside of me.”

— Misty Copeland

“I am a black woman, and my experiences would not be what they are if I wasn't. I'm so happy to share those experiences for other people to be able to learn from them.”

— Misty Copeland

“I feel like going to class every morning is so humbling. You're always working to improve, and you're always being critiqued on your next performance. It's not about what you've done. There's always room to grow.”

— Misty Copeland

I have the opportunity, which most people don't experience nearly as much, of being in front of a mirror up to 10 hours a day. Staring at your body, you really get to know every little detail of how to make yourself look your best.

— Misty Copeland

I think all dancers are control freaks a bit. We just want to be in control of ourselves and our bodies. That's just what the ballet structure, I think, kind of puts inside of you.

— Misty Copeland

“I think American Ballet Theatre is setting that standard now for classical ballet, that you can dream big, and it doesn't matter what you look like, where you come from, what your background is.”

— Misty Copeland

“I want the ballet world to be given the respect that it deserves and to be seen by more people - for so many to experience the beauty that I've received from the ballet world.”

— Misty Copeland

I wanted to open the dialogue about race in ballet and bring more people in. It's just beautiful to see the interest that has exploded for such an incredible art form that I will forever be grateful to!

— Misty Copeland

“I was seventeen when I moved to New York. I was nineteen when I joined the main company. I was going through a lot. Just becoming an adult and just wanting to fit in, be accepted, and be in common with the other dancers.”

— Misty Copeland

I've always approached my career and my life, you know, one day at a time, as if this was the last day that I'm going, because you never know as an athlete and as a dancer. You never know what can happen today, tomorrow.

— Misty Copeland

“It's going to take a while before we see a real shift in the students and the dancers that are going into professional companies because it takes so many years of training, but I do think that there's a new crop of dancers, of minority dancers that are entering into the ballet world.”

— Misty Copeland

It's hard to change someone's ideas when they might not even really consciously know that they're being racist, or have racist ideas, just because ballet has been this way for hundreds of years.

— Misty Copeland

“What you put into your body is just as important as how hard you dance. I believe with the right training and an understanding of how to take care of your body, you can mold it to be whatever you want it to be.”

— Misty Copeland

“When people meet me in person, they're usually surprised at how petite I am because there's this idea that because I'm black, I just look a certain way.”

— Misty Copeland

“You can do anything you want, even if you are being told negative things.stay strong and find motivation”

— Misty Copeland

The path to your success is not as fixed and inflexible as you think.

— Misty Copeland

“I feel like I represent every young dancer, and even non-dancer, who felt they were not accepted by the ballet world. I'd like to think that they can see themselves in me.”

— Misty Copeland

Some people even think that I'm still just not right for it [ballet]. And I think it's shocking because they hear those words from critics saying I'm too bulky, I'm too busty. And then they meet me in person and they're like, you look like a ballerina. And I think it's just something maybe that I will never escape from, those people who are narrow-minded. But my mission, my voice, my story, my message, is not for them. And I think it's more important to think of the people that I am influencing and helping to see a broader picture of what beauty is.

— Misty Copeland

I think that training is the key, definitely, and I devoted my life to it.

— Misty Copeland

“I had no idea what I was walking into, and the years and years of hard work it would take. I felt like an outsider and like it was never going to happen. But even if I would have known, I think I still would have done it. Dancers are perfectionists, and that's what keeps us going and growing.”

— Misty Copeland

“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

“Just as a child, before I ever knew what ballet was, there was something in me where I was always searching for something structured, something that was bigger than me, and something so historical that I could be a part of. I didn't find that until I stepped into the ballet world, and it was overwhelming, the feeling of being a part of something that's bigger than you.”

— Misty Copeland

“There are muscles that we have in our feet that most human beings don't even know that we have. The strength that we have is so detailed.”

— Misty Copeland

I'm a classical ballet dancer, and at the end of the day I want to be with American Ballet Theater, performing classical ballets.

— Misty Copeland

“Going on stage and transcending the audience and becoming this otherworldly thing makes you a dancer. It's not so black and white.”

— Misty Copeland

“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

Even if I weren't learning new roles and getting the opportunity to be coached by incredible people, I still think I would be so excited to have an opportunity to continue to push myself and grow, as an artist.

— Misty Copeland

“It's really amazing that I was discovered and that I've been given these great opportunities to travel the world and work with amazing artists. I'm very blessed.”

— Misty Copeland

“I think that I'm so fortunate to have found classical ballet. It completely changed my life and it shaped the person that I am today, on and off the stage.”

— Misty Copeland

“What makes people and companies and artistic directors and choreographers interested in working with dancers is the ability to kind of let go of everything you think you know and be a blank canvas.”

— Misty Copeland

“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

“Physical fears change and shift depending on the role and depending on the mindset I'm in.”

— Misty Copeland

“I definitely like to be natural and more relaxed and not wear a lot of makeup.”

— Misty Copeland

“Ballet was exactly what I was searching for, but my environment definitely made me the dancer and the person that I am today. And the Hip-Hop culture was a big part of it.”

— Misty Copeland