Misty Copeland
Biography Information
Misty Danielle Copeland is a dancer for The American Ballet Theater in New York. At only the age of 33, Misty has been around the world doing all kinds of performances. At the very young age of 2, her mother and siblings all packed into the car and left their father. Misty wouldn't see her father until she was 22, traveling the world as a dancer with The American Ballet Theater. At the time, Misty's mother only had 4 children, Erica, Chris, Doug Jr., and of course Misty. Soon that number would grow to six. They traveled to Bellflower, Los Angeles where they met their new father and her mother had her last baby girl, Linsey. There first stepfather's name was Harold Brown. Harold was a great step father to Misty and her brothers and sisters. He would treat them as his own children. But her mother later found out that he was an alcoholic, so once again they picked up their stuff and moved away. Then Misty's mother found yet another man. His name was Robert. Robert also had Cameron, Misty's new baby brother. Robert was very strict and was not very nice to the kids. He would get very mad and spank the kids for doing really small things. He would even make Misty's brothers fight over little arguments that weren't a big deal. Misty's mom got tired of Robert and when he went to work, they all packed up and left. They drove to downtown Los Angeles where their Auntie Monique and Uncle Charles let them stay. They did not feel very safe because they were on the turf of the Crips, one of the most infamous gangs. So soon they moved in with their mother's new boyfriend, Ray. Meanwhile, Misty was really enjoying ballet. She started with her drill team at school. She made drill team captain and enjoyed it a lot. Her drill team coach told her to try ballet which was available at her after school club. She tried it. The class was with a woman named Cindy. She had owned a ballet school in the area. At first, Misty didn't really like Ballet because it was way different than drill team. But, it grew on her and it turned out she was a natural.
She began to take classes at Cindy's studio and started Pointe very soon. Then money became a problem for the Copeland family, so they moved to a motel. Misty's mother told her that she would not be able to do ballet classes anymore. She was very upset. She told Cindy and Cindy asked Misty's mother if she could live with her and then would no longer have to pay for dance classes. So, that is what happened. Misty packed up all her stuff from the tiny motel and went to live with Cindy. She lived with Cindy, Cindys husband, and her son, Wolfie for 2 years and then Misty's mother started to complain that she was not getting to see Misty very much. She would also complain about how she was changing misty so much. Cindy and her mother compromised and decided on Misty staying at Cindy's for the week and her mother's for the weekend. Misty's mother was still not happy with the arrangements and Misty's home full time. Cindy told Misty to try to get emancipated. Misty said she wanted to so they informed her mother. They took Misty to a friend's house. Her mother was very mad and reported her missing. It was all over the news and Misty was really scared. Cindy took her back to her mother and her mother took her home. Misty mother sued Cindy and her husband and Misty didn't see them again for a decade. Later Misty was asked to the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive program. When she was there she was asked to be a part of the company. She wanted to, but she wanted to finish high school back at home. The next year she went to New York to join ABT and that is where she still is today. Misty had a hard life and went through many challenges but she persevered and became a beautiful and successful dancer.
References:
Copeland , Misty, and Charisse Jones. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. Scholastic, 2014. Print.