Misty Copeland is a mom, author, and was the first African-American female principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. Now, the talented dancer is ensuring that ballet is accessible for Black and Brown children through The Misty Copeland Foundation and its BE BOLD program.
“I’ve shared my story about how I discovered ballet at 13 years old on the basketball court of my local Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, CA, and four years later, I moved to New York City to join American Ballet Theatre. It was because someone at that club saw something in me that I had not seen in myself,” Copeland said in an interview with Kindred by Parents.com. “In thinking about establishing The Misty Copeland Foundation and its BE BOLD program, it was important to me to provide to children the same type of opportunity and environment that helped build a path for me to succeed not just in this art form, but in my life overall.”
Copeland continued,”The BE BOLD program is designed for children from underserved communities who do not have the resources or accessibility for ballet classes. For children and families who have those resources and the access, that’s wonderful and the hope is that they will include ballet and dance in their children’s experiences along with other activities of interest.”
According to the interview, the BE BOLD program, (Ballet Explorations, Ballet Offers Leadership Development), is a free, child-centered, after-school dance program that will serve 8 to 10-year-old boys and girls, within their communities, at six sites in the Kips Bay and at the Madison Square Boys & Girls Clubs in New York. The twelve-week program, which launched this month, has five core elements: Introductory Ballet, Music for Ballet, Health & Wellness, Tutoring, and Mentoring.
Just what is one of Copeland’s goals that she wishes to accomplish with her foundation and main program. Well, the prima ballerina hopes to help erode the systemic barriers that Black and Brown dancers face on multiple levels.
“Body positivity is embedded in the work we are doing to change the children who will experience ballet through our program,” she said in her interview. “From the ‘uniform’ the dancers will wear, to the openness of hair expression, we are celebrating individuality and welcoming dancers to embrace their heritage and culture within the ballet community Misty Copeland Foundation is creating.”
Misty Copeland is unquestionably on a mission to change the lives of many generations of ballerinas and danseurs to come.
Photo Credit: Misty Copeland Instagram; Featured Image courtesy of the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club/The Misty Copeland Foundation
