Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" Being in ballet class, being on the stage, being surrounded by my peers at American Ballet Theater every day, keeps me so humble and grounded. Being in ballet class, I feel, is like this meditation for me every morning. "

Misty Copeland

American

Humble

Day

Related Quotes:

" The ballet world I don't think is an art form that is quick to change or to adjust or evolve. "

" 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. "

" I feel like with 'On the Town,' it was the perfect production and the perfect opportunity. "

" Growing up, I was surrounded by R&B and Hip-Hop, and the closest thing I could find to dance was gymnastics which I watched on TV. So, I just used those avenues I found available right in my milieu to express what was inside of me. "

Misty Copeland

Growing

Dance

" Being the only African American at this level in American Ballet Theater, I feel like people are looking at me, and it's my responsibility for me to do whatever I can to provide these opportunities in communities to be able to educate them. "

" Something happens when you feel that energy and excitement from the audience. And you do, I don't know, four pirouettes. You jump higher than you ever have. And it's just this really magical thing that happens in those moments. "

" 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. "

" It's a European art form, and you're used to seeing a certain type of person as a ballerina. And I don't look like a lot of the girls around me. "

" 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. "

" 'The Company' was interesting. I didn't love it, although it might be compelling to someone who isn't a dancer. There wasn't a lot of dialogue, and you were just kind of observing the creative process of choreography and in class. "

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

Misty Copeland

Always

Tool

" I didn't want to be the best at anything; I just wanted to blend in. And that was kind of my existence throughout my family experiences at home of just kind of blending in in the background through my other siblings, which was easy to do. "

" I'm definitely influenced by the music. We dance to music, and you have to listen to it and phrase your dancing and movement in a certain way to compliment the music. We have to work hand in hand, the dancer and the music. "

" It's hard to change someone's ideas when they might not even really consciously know that they're being racist, or have racist ideas, just because ballet has been this way for hundreds of years. "

" Though I have tremendous support from lots of people, there are so many others waiting to tear me down. "

" Being one of the few African American women to make it to this level in a classical ballet company, the level of American Ballet Theatre, takes a lot of perseverance. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I think, as a child, there weren't dreams. I can't recall as a child having some ultimate dream and thinking that it was possible. "

" I've always approached my career and my life, you know, one day at a time, as if this was the last day that I'm going, because you never know as an athlete and as a dancer. You never know what can happen today, tomorrow. "

" There are hundreds of stories I've heard from black women from my generation, generations before me, and the next, that have never been given an opportunity to fulfill their dreams. "

Misty Copeland

Opportunity

Black

" I was seventeen when I moved to New York. I was nineteen when I joined the main company. I was going through a lot. Just becoming an adult and just wanting to fit in, be accepted, and be in common with the other dancers. "

" I don't want to be anything else other than a ballerina. I love what I do outside of my work, but at the end of the day, I have to sacrifice. "

" I traced the marley floor with my pointe shoes, and imagine myself on the stage, not as a member of the corps, but as a principal dancer. It felt right. It felt like a promise. Some day, somehow, it was going to happen for me. "

" I am a black woman, and my experiences would not be what they are if I wasn't. I'm so happy to share those experiences for other people to be able to learn from them. "

" Ballet was so structured. I'd been craving something that could guide me. "

Misty Copeland

Been

Guide

" Ballet became this escape for me. I feel like I was on my own a lot. I was searching for stability, so I was going off on my own and imagining what I thought stability was. Ballet became a way for me to cope. "

" Every time I step onto the stage, it's not only proving to the audience that I'm capable but to myself. "

" The classical ballet world is so exclusive and small, and a lot of people don't know about it. "

" I have the opportunity, which most people don't experience nearly as much, of being in front of a mirror up to 10 hours a day. Staring at your body, you really get to know every little detail of how to make yourself look your best. "