Who gets the chance to dance? In Misty Copeland’s dream, everyone does.
Project name
The Misty Copeland Foundation
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Dance changed Misty Copeland’s life, and in turn, she changed the world of dance.
As the first Black female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, Copeland carved out a space for herself in the world of professional ballet. Dance, she says, is where she first felt seen. Revealing herself on stage, in motion, had an enormous impact on those watching, especially on young dancers of color who couldn’t easily find themselves in the faces and bodies of professional dancers.
She created the Misty Copeland Foundation to further her mission to support aspiring dancers. The goal is to bring dance, especially ballet, to children living in under-resourced communities where opportunities to pursue ballet are rare. Her desire was born from wanting to build what Copeland didn't have as a young girl—and what so many communities like hers still don't have access to: a place to creatively engage the full body, spirit, and mind in the rigor and creativity of a dance practice.
Copeland channels that same passion into her work as an author. In her bestselling memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, Copeland explores her rise through the ballet world and documents her life as an artist. In her children’s book Firebird, a young girl seeks out a creative mentor to fuel her self-belief and inspire the confidence she needs to follow her artistic dreams and dedicate herself to a life of dance.
“Creating is not linear. It takes discipline and practice. Utilizing structure to find beauty.”
We sat down with Copeland to ask her about juggling multiple creative practices and projects, how she thinks about collaboration, the role Dropbox plays in helping her teams stay organized, and the advice she has for young dancers.
In addition to being a world-class dancer, you’re also a bestselling author. How do those creative practices influence each other?
They’re a lot closer than people would assume. In my journey, even before dance, journaling was such a big part of my life. It’s something important to me that I’ve integrated into the curriculum [for the Misty Copeland Foundation]—the importance of being able to write and process using different forms and mediums of expression. It creates such a whole person and artist.
It’s all storytelling. I feel so privileged that I have these different outlets to tell stories that are meaningful to me and give back to the communities I came from.
When you’re building something, whether it’s a dance performance or an event, what makes a collaboration really work?
I think it’s trust. It’s having clarity, a shared vision, and respect for one another. There’s so much collaboration that happens in my life, whether it’s with a partner on stage, a choreographer, or the team I have through the Misty Copeland Foundation and my production company. It’s been vital for us to find a way to communicate with my crazy schedule and have clarity, structure, and consistency.
Dropbox has been such a pivotal part…I’m often not in the same room as my teams. My stylist lives in LA, and I’m in the Misty Copeland Foundation offices maybe once a month. So I’m not there, but I’m very hands-on. To be able to share thoughts and ideas in a clean way that’s measurable, that you can come back to and revisit, has been key for us.
What role does Dropbox play in keeping everyone organized and moving?
Dropbox takes away a lot of the chaos that can naturally happen when you’re bringing together people from different worlds with different experiences and thoughts and ideas. Having everything documented in one place allows for more creativity to come out because we’re not trying to manage things or waste time on things that aren’t necessary. When you have tools that give you structure and alignment, then the creativity can just flow.
Through your work at the Misty Copeland Foundation, you’re using art activism to bring dance to young people. What has this work taught you that you didn’t expect?
The power of young people’s voices. They have so much to offer. They hold so much thoughtfulness and creativity and power. It’s about giving them a safe space where they feel they can express themselves without judgment.
It’s always surprising in the best way when I come into our Be Bold classes, which is the signature program through my foundation, and see these young people have the confidence—because of movement and structure that dance and ballet gives them—to creatively express themselves verbally. That was my personal experience. I was very introverted, and I was so shy. It wasn’t until I was exposed to this discipline and the safety of a studio environment that I started to have the confidence to express myself through my voice.
What would you tell a young dancer who’s just beginning?
To be part of this world, you have to love it. It’s not a passive activity. It’s something you commit yourself to and need to be passionate about because it takes so much effort and so much focus and commitment.
It’s also about consistency. When you show up and you’re consistent then it doesn’t feel like work. You can then allow the work you put into your body to just kind of take over, and you can be more creative and become the artist you want to be. It’s not just the athleticism and what you’re training your body to do. It’s also how you’re telling a story through the technique and the language of dance.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
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