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" Finding great training, I think, is number one. I did a lot of research and found really great teachers, and it just takes - I took a year off from school and did independent studies so that I could devote all of my time to it. But I think that training is the key, definitely, and it's not a sport. "

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" 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. "

Misty Copeland

Way

Girl

Hope

" My curves became an integral part of who I am as a dancer, not something I needed to lose to become one. "

" 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. "

" When I was dancing, I felt in control and happy. I'm a Virgo, so I really like to be in control. "

Misty Copeland

Dancing

Happy

" A young girl reached out to me to be her mentor one day, which I didn't really know anything about. What I did remember was what it was to be alone as an African-American dancer in the ballet world and wanting to connect with someone who looks like me. "

Misty Copeland

World

Day

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

" I was the first person in my family who was ever interested in dance, or fine art of any kind for that matter - I came from a very humble beginning in San Pedro, California. "

" 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. "

" All you can do is be your best self. I've always felt that I had to be that much more aware of how I present myself. I'm representing more than just me. I think every person should think that way. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" It's all so surreal, and I'm living my dream. And you know, principal or not, I'm getting to dance all the roles that I've dreamed of doing. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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

" 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

" If I'm put in a situation where I am not really sure what's going to happen, it can be overwhelming. I get a bit anxious. "

" At least in my performances, the audience has become so diverse in a way that I don't think ballet has ever experienced. "

" I was on a path. I was going to become a principal dancer. I never let my mind rest. "

" Don't hold on to the barre like, 'I might die.' It's just ballet. "

" 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. "

" To be empathetic to everyone around you, I think, is such a powerful thing to hold. "

" Ballet found me, I guess you could say. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me. I would love to choreograph and dance around. "

" My family didn't have very much money, so ballet wasn't even on my radar; I just found it randomly when I was 13 at a Boys & Girls Club. We were practicing in a basketball court in gym clothes with some old socks on. Even though it terrified me at first, I found that I really liked it. "

Misty Copeland

Money

Clothes

" I think that the ideal physique and look of a ballerina is always changing with different eras. And it's continuing to change. "

" I had some really incredible people who mentored me and gave me things I never got from my parents. "

Misty Copeland

Things

People

" When it came to my childhood - growing up in a single-parent home, often struggling financially - my mother definitely instilled in me and my siblings this strength, this will, to just continue to survive and succeed. "

" Dance kind of was always just a part of my natural state as a child. It's something that, whenever music was playing, I was dancing. "

" 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. "

" More often than we realize, people see in us what we don't see in ourselves. "

Misty Copeland

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