ESSENCE Festival Speaker Misty Copeland's Odds-Defying Moves

Although her mother could not afford dance classes while she supported all six of her children, Misty was spotted at 13 by a teacher who knew her talent was undeniable. And the rest is history.

Along Misty's journey, many of her directors and classmates told her she was too muscular or too dark to become principal dancer. Instead of letting that stop her, she trained harder. 

Misty Copeland twirled into ballet history last year when she became the first Black principal dancer in the history of the American Ballet Theater.

In September, she told ESSENCE about why she is unapologetic about using her platform as an African-American ballerina: "The reason I’m here and I have this voice is because I’m Black."

Though Misty has achieved much success, she still approaches each performance as a gift.  As she readies to take on the spotlight at ABT, her thoughts are set on dancing in the moment.

For Misty Copeland, practice makes perfect. "You're always working to improve, and you're always being critiqued on your next performance. It's not about what you've done. There's always room to grow," she says.

From her tiptoes to her fingertips, Misty Copeland is the picture of grace and strength. Check out those muscles!

Misty takes her career as a responsibility: "I wanted it to be an opportunity for me to educate people and get them to become ballet fans and to educate them on what it means to be a Black dancer—a Black ballet dancer," she said in her ESSENCE cover story.

Though she is only 33, Misty is on her way to becoming a legend. ESSENCE is proud to support and share her journey. We have a feeling we'll be sharing it for a long time to come.