In a first for The SMG Report, we would like to present to you our Woman of the Year, Misty Copeland. March is International Women’s History month and we love to support the women in our orbit. Each year, we are blessed to meet, interview and tell the stories of phenomenal women everywhere, so we thought it was time to appropriate to draw from our reporting to celebrate an extraordinary woman. We hope to continue this trend and grow each year’s recognition and, with your help, we have no qualms about continuing. Misty Copeland is a history maker and continues to inspire hope everywhere she goes. Copeland was in Dallas last month for St. Philip’s School & Community Center’s 2026 Destiny Award Luncheon to talk about her historic journey to retirement as the first Black principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre.
Misty Copeland’s indomitable spirit is celebrated all over world and her achievement has sparked a movement of black women and girls on the barre. Black dancers who felt forced to pursue other genres of dance have a north start in Copeland who continues to lead the way for women who have been traditionally overlooked. Copeland’s last dance as lead for the American Ballet Theatre last October brought to an end an impressive career in dance but created an opportunity as flag bearer for diversity in performing arts.
Copeland has fully recovered from a January hip surgery in and performed during a performance of “I Lied to You” from Ryan Coogler’s Best Original Screenplay, “Sinners.” The star-studded performance featured Buddy Guy, Bobby Rush, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Raphael Saadiq, Eric Gales, Brittany Howard, Miles Caton and Copeland. Copeland is no stranger to ballet in contemporary spaces. In her conversation in Dallas, she recounted her time touring with Prince and learning to love the space she was in. “He was another important mentor in my life.” Copeland continued, “He also gave me another outlook on myself as a Black artist. I remember, we would have these deep conversations and we would talk about Raven and I remember him saying, ‘why are you always so sad?’ Why is it always such a negative thing to be the only?’ and, I was like, I don’t know, it’s just how I feel. It kind of feels heavy. And he was like, ‘but everyone is looking at you because you’re the only brown one up there.’ And I was like hmm! I never looked at it that way and I think that there’s something so special about the way his mind worked and like, his uniqueness and that standing out and being different were strengths and he really got me to look at all of these things I was seeing as weight or adversity as superpowers.” Copeland’s impact goes beyond ballet and even further beyond the dance community she is part of the culture.
“I’m committed and invested in continuing to do this work for as long as I am here.”
During the Dallas press gaggle, Copeland was asked about the void of black leads in classical spaces, considering Denyce Graves’ retirement from opera last January. “Mrs. Graves is also doing incredible work through her own foundation that I’m familiar with and pouring into and investing in to the next generation. There’s going to be a gap when it comes to seeing Black artists in these positions at a high level, but it’s happening, you know. I see (just speaking from my own experience) there are so many black and brown dancers entering professional companies that you may not know about (the Paris Opera Ballet and The Royal Ballet). These are brown faces up on those stages and so to me, that’s progress and the work we’re doing in the community is showing even more of what these stages can and should look like. And, I think it’s giving young people more confidence that these are spaces that they can thrive in.” When asked if she was hopeful the progress would continue, Copeland said, “Yeah, I am (hopeful). I mean, I wouldn’t do this work if I didn’t believe and if I wasn’t hopeful. I’m committed and invested in continuing to do this work for as long as I am here.”
In Her Own Words
“So much of my journey in life and through childhood has really been about survival and coming from a single parent home and growing up one of six children, instability and often chaos and abuse, I just wanted to hide and I wasn’t looking for one real direction to thrive in. But the one constant was family in my life and this understanding and this sense of identity. My mother always made it very clear and I’ve always stood so proudly in my identity as a young black girl. So coming into the ballet world, you would think that I would feel completely out of place and it was the first place I ever felt a sense of belonging and I know that it’s because of the structure of it. It’s because of the beauty of the art form. I say all of that to say, being a brown girl in that space, I felt this sense of pride being the only black girl in the spaces I was in. I feel like I’ve never really looked at being in this position as weight or pressure. It’s always felt like an incredible responsibility, a beautiful responsibility, and that I’ve had the privilege of carrying on so many legacies. It’s beyond the future, but also the past. I’m so fortunate and so privileged to have the access and opportunity that so many incredibly black and brown dancers haven’t had before me. So, to me, it’s a no-brainer. I’ve got to do everything I can while I have the platform I have-you know, that’s what I’ve felt throughout my career and that’s why it’s been important to me to build outside of ballet so that I could continue this work.”
Get ready to see Misty Copeland in another realm you may not have ever experienced her in as she hosts the 2026 Met Gala, Monday, May 4th. This year’s theme is “Costume Art” and you’re bound to see some eye-popping, fashion forward visuals unlike any year. What’s Misty Copeland going to wear? In the past, you could easily expect to see Copeland in a nice formal look. This year, you can expect to see Copeland in something a little more ‘funky.’ Copeland confesses that there are more sides to her than what people know and she will be showing a little more of her personality in this year’s Met Gala look.
