African American Ballerina Misty Copeland has shattered a 75 year strong ceiling at the American Ballet Theater and has soared to the organization’s top spot as its first African American Principal Dancer.
Despite feature roles in such productions as Swan Lake, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, the 32 year old Kansas City native, who joined ABT in 2001 and named Soloist in 2007, set the web abuzz when she scaled one of entertainment’s toughest walls in a promotion reported two days ago.
Like a leap straight out of Swan Lake, reactions to Copeland’s accomplishment were high and mighty. Below we’ve highlighted some of the best.
All hail the Queen. My "sister" Misty Copeland was just promoted to Principal dancer with ABT!! An amazing day for dancers and chocolates…
— Taye Diggs (@TayeDiggs) June 30, 2015
Congrats to our good friend @mistyonpointe on being named the principal dancer at the @ABTBallet.https://t.co/JxsTZZqs73
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) July 2, 2015
Brava! Yay! And Hallelujah to you @mistyonpointe . Beaming with pride at your magnificent achievement as Principal Dancer ABT??????
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) July 1, 2015
Congrats to the extraordinary #MistyCopeland. The first ever Black principal ballerina at American Ballet Theater. pic.twitter.com/WyPz9fgyib
— Viola Davis (@violadavis) June 30, 2015
Help us celebrate Copeland’s historic achievement with your thoughts and comments.