What you need to know
Misty Copeland has taken her final bow.
On Wednesday, Oct. 22, Copeland, 43, celebrated her final ballet performance with American Ballet Theater before her retirement. A professional dancer, she was the first black female principal dancer in the company’s history since its founding in 1939.
Titled “A Celebration in Honor of Misty Copeland,” the performance, held at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, included performances by Copeland and other dancers, speeches from esteemed guests, and a video montage of Copeland’s 25-year tenure at ABT. The event was co-chaired by Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey and was part of ABT’s fall celebrations.
After a five-year hiatus, Copeland returned to the event stage. At 32 years old, the prima ballerina became the company’s first black principal dancer.
Ahead of her final performance, she told us exclusively that she would advise young dancers to “try to find joy. It’s one of the hardest things in the world, but you have to remember joy and why you do it.”
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Copeland has been a vocal advocate for making ballet a more inclusive and accessible space for Black performers and fans. In a June 2025 interview with the New York Times Magazine announcing his retirement, Copeland reflected on his impact on the changing face of elite ballet.
“My entire career has proven that diversity brings people together, understands each other, and wants to be a community together,” she told the outlet.
“So many young black and brown people didn’t even know Lincoln Center was a place they could step foot in,” Copeland continued. “When you see my poster on the surface, it feels like a whole new world has opened up to you.”
Copeland created the Misty Copeland Foundation, wrote numerous children’s books (including 2020’s Bunheads) and memoirs, and co-founded the production company Life in Motion, all while performing on stage during an illustrious ballet career that spanned more than 20 years.
Speaking to T Magazine in June, Copeland spoke about the prejudiced stereotypes that once kept black dancers away from the world’s most prestigious stages.
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“Black people have been told for generations, ‘You can’t wear pointe shoes because you all have flat feet, your butts and thighs are too big,'” Copeland said. “We don’t all look like this, and there’s nothing wrong with that anyway.”
She continued, “It’s about opening your mind to the possibilities of what can be created when you see something done to the body in a way that you’re not used to.”
