Misty Copeland

Dancer

1982-09-10

Quotes by Misty Copeland

• I think body-image issues are not just a dancer thing. I think we're much more in tune and aware because the body is our instrument and art, and we stare at ourselves in a mirror all day, but I feel like it's something that every woman experiences and every girl experiences.

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• 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.

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• I don't feel like my life is that of a superstar! Every day I wake up, I take the train, I go to my ballet class. My everyday life is pretty normal.

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• Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.

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• Once you become a professional, to get through a ballet like 'Swan Lake' - four acts as the lead, changing character - the perseverance is incredible. It takes a lot to make it through and keep the same energy throughout the entire performance.

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• My family didn't have very much money, so ballet wasn't even on my radar; I just found it randomly when I was 13 at a Boys & Girls Club. We were practicing in a basketball court in gym clothes with some old socks on. Even though it terrified me at first, I found that I really liked it.

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• That something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning of my career is I didn't want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the... ballet. I wanted to be myself. I didn't want to have to wear makeup that made my nose look thinner.

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• Perseverance has always just been something that was in me. And it was a tool that came in very handy as a ballerina.

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• When I was 16, I moved to Torrance, California to train at a more advanced studio, and by 19, I joined the American Ballet Theatre in New York. It all happened so fast - it was pretty unheard of that someone could train for so few years and become a professional at one of the most elite dance companies in the United States.

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• It's hard to be the one that stands out when, you know, in a ballet company, you're trying to create unison and uniform when you're in a corps de ballet.

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• When I was a little girl, I was incredibly shy. My hope was to blend in, to fit in, to not be noticed in any significant way. I was deeply insecure and unsure of myself.

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• I say over and over again that I am just standing on the shoulders of so many who have set this path for me, and they may not be seen or recognized or have been given an opportunity to have a voice, but I'm here representing all of those dancers. Dance Theatre of Harlem Virginia Johnson, Tai Jimenez, Lauren Anderson.

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• When I was dancing, I felt in control and happy. I'm a Virgo, so I really like to be in control.

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• Before dance came into my life, I don't really remember having any major goals or dreams of wanting to be anything.

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• I've gotten nothing but warmth from the Black community and positive feedback.

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• You have to be the one promoting yourself. If you don't think that you're worthy, you're never going to make it.

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