Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland comes an illustrated nonfiction collection celebrating dancers of color who have influenced her on and off the stage. As a young girl living in a motel with her mother and her five siblings, Misty Copeland didn’t have a lot of exposure to ballet or prominent dancers. She was sixteen when she saw a black ballerina on a magazine cover for the first time. The experience emboldened Misty and told her that she wasn’t alone—and her dream wasn’t impossible. In the years since, Misty has only learned more about the trailblazing women who made her own success possible by pushing back against repression and racism with their talent and tenacity. Misty brings these women’s stories to a new generation of readers and gives them the recognition they deserve. With an introduction from Misty about the legacy these women have had on dance and on her career itself, this book delves into the lives and careers of women of color who fundamentally changed the landscape of American ballet from the early 20th century to today.
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Quote to add “after she (Debra Austin) was cast as the Sylph in La Sylphide, someone staging the ballet questioned the decision, stating that she had never seen a Black Sylph. Given that a sylph is a mythological fairylike creature, the artistic director challenged the stager and replied, “Have you ever seen a sylph before?”
“Three years after becoming principal dancer, Lorraine [Graves] became a ballet mistress with the company, helping to run rehearsals and teach. This was in addition to her duties as an active dancer with DTH, proving her maturity and leadership skills even at a young age. These dual roles helped Lorraine find her confidence as a dancer, and, in her words, they have her “the opportunity to ‘see' myself and think about how I /want/ to see myself.”
