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Misty Copeland's success shows ballet leaping in the right direction Misty Copeland's success shows ballet leaping in the right direction
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After much conjecture and a barrage of media coverage so intense it must have turned her spring season into an unenviable gauntlet of pressure – as if debuting in Swan Lake on her home turf weren’t pressure enough – Misty Copeland has been promoted to the top rank of principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater. At the age of 32, and after 14 years in the company, she is the first African American woman in ABT’s history to achieve this. (Back in the 90s, Desmond Richardson was its first and so far only black male principal.)After much conjecture and a barrage of media coverage so intense it must have turned her spring season into an unenviable gauntlet of pressure – as if debuting in Swan Lake on her home turf weren’t pressure enough – Misty Copeland has been promoted to the top rank of principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater. At the age of 32, and after 14 years in the company, she is the first African American woman in ABT’s history to achieve this. (Back in the 90s, Desmond Richardson was its first and so far only black male principal.)
Related: Misty Copeland attains American Ballet Theater's highest rank in historic firstRelated: Misty Copeland attains American Ballet Theater's highest rank in historic first
As Copeland’s recent performances in Rodeo, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake demonstrated, she is clearly ready to take on the added responsibilities that come with principal status. She can carry a ballet and she can fill a theatre, two crucial and not unrelated qualities. She may not be capable of the whiz-bang jumps of a Natalia Osipova or the reality-bending turns of a Gillian Murphy, but in this she’s certainly not alone. In these last seasons, Copeland’s dancing has acquired layers of depth and finesse. She knows how to tell a story through movement and how to bring the audience along for the ride. She has humour, pathos, and a sense of drama. Most of all – and this isn’t as common as you might think – she manages to be herself onstage. As Copeland’s recent performances in Rodeo, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake demonstrated, she is clearly ready to take on the added responsibilities that come with principal status. She can carry a ballet and she can fill a theatre, two crucial and not unrelated qualities. She may not be capable of the whiz-bang jumps of a Natalia Osipova or the reality-bending turns of a Gillian Murphy, but in this she’s certainly not alone. In these past seasons, Copeland’s dancing has acquired layers of depth and finesse. She knows how to tell a story through movement and how to bring the audience along for the ride. She has humour, pathos, and a sense of drama. Most of all – and this isn’t as common as you might think – she manages to be herself onstage.
The fact that she is an African American woman in an art form that often feels shockingly unrepresentative of society at large is also important. Ballet is still an overwhelmingly white profession. The reasons for this are many: the expense and intensive nature of the training, which requires great sacrifices of families; the shrinking relevance of the classical arts in contemporary culture; and not least, a lingering racism concerning the “ideal” body for ballet.The fact that she is an African American woman in an art form that often feels shockingly unrepresentative of society at large is also important. Ballet is still an overwhelmingly white profession. The reasons for this are many: the expense and intensive nature of the training, which requires great sacrifices of families; the shrinking relevance of the classical arts in contemporary culture; and not least, a lingering racism concerning the “ideal” body for ballet.
This is ironic, since ballet dancers’ body types have changed dramatically over the course of its history. Even now, one can see a wide variety of physiques among dancers at the world’s great companies. Just compare, say, Sara Mearns of New York City Ballet with Ulyana Lopatkina of the Mariinsky. Both are gorgeous; both are at the very top of their profession. (Of course dancers are exceedingly fit and considerably trimmer than the rest of us.) As Lauren Anderson, a former principal at the Houston Ballet, told Rivka Galchen of the New Yorker: “We’re not accustomed to thinking of black women’s bodies in that context. We’re accustomed to thinking of black women as athletic and strong,” an image at odds with the quite misleading idea of the ethereal, waif-like ballerina.This is ironic, since ballet dancers’ body types have changed dramatically over the course of its history. Even now, one can see a wide variety of physiques among dancers at the world’s great companies. Just compare, say, Sara Mearns of New York City Ballet with Ulyana Lopatkina of the Mariinsky. Both are gorgeous; both are at the very top of their profession. (Of course dancers are exceedingly fit and considerably trimmer than the rest of us.) As Lauren Anderson, a former principal at the Houston Ballet, told Rivka Galchen of the New Yorker: “We’re not accustomed to thinking of black women’s bodies in that context. We’re accustomed to thinking of black women as athletic and strong,” an image at odds with the quite misleading idea of the ethereal, waif-like ballerina.
Michaela DePrince, born in Sierra Leone and now with the Dutch National Ballet, told me, back in 2013, that as a little girl attending class in Philadelphia, she sensed the disapproval from “ballet moms who seemed to be eager to express their opinion about black girls in classical ballet”. There is a more insidious problem as well, as Virginia Johnson, one of the great black American ballerinas and a former star of Dance Theatre of Harlem, told me a few years ago: a lack of belief in their potential to make it in the profession. Johnson, who is now artistic director of DTH, said then that the dancers who show up at her workshops often have flaws that could easily be fixed with a little loving care: “I look at these dancers and I see that they’re not being corrected. There are some very basic things going on that reveal that they’re being ignored.”Michaela DePrince, born in Sierra Leone and now with the Dutch National Ballet, told me, back in 2013, that as a little girl attending class in Philadelphia, she sensed the disapproval from “ballet moms who seemed to be eager to express their opinion about black girls in classical ballet”. There is a more insidious problem as well, as Virginia Johnson, one of the great black American ballerinas and a former star of Dance Theatre of Harlem, told me a few years ago: a lack of belief in their potential to make it in the profession. Johnson, who is now artistic director of DTH, said then that the dancers who show up at her workshops often have flaws that could easily be fixed with a little loving care: “I look at these dancers and I see that they’re not being corrected. There are some very basic things going on that reveal that they’re being ignored.”
African American men don’t seem to suffer as acutely from this problem, perhaps because the man’s role in ballet is perceived as less rarefied, more intrinsically athletic. (There is still a notion that ballet is more of a woman’s game. The ballerina is the icon. The man is there mainly to carry and exalt her. Or so the cliché goes.) As a result there are comparatively more black men than women in ballet, though the numbers are still quite small.African American men don’t seem to suffer as acutely from this problem, perhaps because the man’s role in ballet is perceived as less rarefied, more intrinsically athletic. (There is still a notion that ballet is more of a woman’s game. The ballerina is the icon. The man is there mainly to carry and exalt her. Or so the cliché goes.) As a result there are comparatively more black men than women in ballet, though the numbers are still quite small.
But perhaps the most important factor discouraging young people of colour from trying ballet is the lack of representation at the highest levels of the profession. As Copeland acknowledges, she was consistently encouraged by her teachers and artistic directors. “I can see now how I was so well supported,” she told Galchen, “but I don’t know if I ever felt like I belonged.” This is where figures like Copeland, and the publicity around her, can make a difference. Kids see black athletes and black musical artists all the time in popular culture; now they are witnessing the popular success of a black ballerina.But perhaps the most important factor discouraging young people of colour from trying ballet is the lack of representation at the highest levels of the profession. As Copeland acknowledges, she was consistently encouraged by her teachers and artistic directors. “I can see now how I was so well supported,” she told Galchen, “but I don’t know if I ever felt like I belonged.” This is where figures like Copeland, and the publicity around her, can make a difference. Kids see black athletes and black musical artists all the time in popular culture; now they are witnessing the popular success of a black ballerina.
The audiences at her performances are inspiringly diverse and thrillingly enthusiastic. No polite applause here. Her many fans, who include legions of young girls, flock to the stage door for autographs. Copeland has brought ballet out of its tower of exclusivity and into the mainstream.The audiences at her performances are inspiringly diverse and thrillingly enthusiastic. No polite applause here. Her many fans, who include legions of young girls, flock to the stage door for autographs. Copeland has brought ballet out of its tower of exclusivity and into the mainstream.
The good news is that ballet is gradually becoming more diverse. More and more, we’re seeing dancers of various backgrounds onstage. Their world is beginning to resemble our world. On the same day Copeland was promoted, another dancer in the company received the same news: Stella Abrera, Filippino-American, from Pasadena. Amar Ramasar, a male principal at City Ballet, is of Trinidadian-Indian and Puerto Rican descent. Hopefully, soon, such hyphenated modifiers will be the rule rather than the exception. The good news is that ballet is gradually becoming more diverse. More and more, we’re seeing dancers of various backgrounds onstage. Their world is beginning to resemble our world. On the same day Copeland was promoted, another dancer in the company received the same news: Stella Abrera, who is Filipino-American, from Pasadena. Amar Ramasar, a male principal at City Ballet, is of Trinidadian-Indian and Puerto Rican descent. Hopefully, soon, such hyphenated modifiers will be the rule rather than the exception.