Misty Copeland began her training at age 13 at the local ballet club but then moved to San Pedro ballet school where she was taught by Cynthia Bradley. At age 15, she was awarded the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Award in the ballet category. In 2000, Copeland won a full scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre’s intensive summer program. That year she was also named the ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar. At the end of the summer, she was invited to join the ABT studio company. She was the only African American dancer in the ABT’s corps de ballet, a group of 80 dancers. She is the first African American woman to be a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. She has performed shows, a few being The Firebird, Coppelia, and Swan Lake. She also appeared in Prince’s “Crimson and Clover” as well as The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
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