I find myself, at this point I've been a professional now for 12 years,
I've been a soloist, gosh, I don't know, five, six years something like that,
so I've reached a very critical point in my career.
I feel like now I can look back, and grow from my experiences.
I have a world of curiosity within my art form,
and I feel an enormous amount of responsibility
to tell the stories of dancers who have inspired me,
as well as a responsibility to carry on
and keep this historical, and traditional art form alive,
because I'm at this point
where I'm reaching towards the next chapter in my career,
hopefully to be the first African American female principal dancer
in any major company in the world.
It makes me really step back and wonder where ballet is headed.
Is ballet dying?
That's the big question, and I couldn't disagree more.
(Laughter)
Keeping ballet relevant to the world without changing its core,
which is the history of ballet, I think that that's very important.
I don't think that ballet has been this hot, in terms of the media,
probably since the 1980s.
I think that the world, outside of the classical ballet world,
they're familiar with the Mikhail Baryshnikovs
and the Gelsey Kirklands and the Bolshoi ballet,
but they were relevant decades ago.
I do think that...
During that time, several ballets stars were defecting from Russia,
coming to America, so it was a really exciting time for dance,
and I think that's why the world was so curious about it.
It was bringing in a variety of nationalities
to form what has such a deep European history,
and bringing it to America and kind of creating a new history here,
because I feel like the ballet world - the history is not very rich quite yet,
as it is in Europe.
So I think that we are getting back to that point, now, with our generation,
with a different approach, now that we have different forms of media,
and pop culture, music, sports,
and the fact that it's bringing ballet, and exposing it to the world.
I think that it's incredible,
and exposing people beyond the classical ballet world to what we do.
So, I think it's important to bridge the gap between generations,
and carry on the tradition.
It's exciting that dance has become in reach to every household,
with various ranges of income through media outlets.
Lack of diversity:
I think this is one of the reasons that ballet's been so exclusive.
Classical ballet has always been characterized as an art form
that you're either born into,
an elite group of people that are in a higher class.
Because we have these mediums now to expose the culture past the stage,
I think it's closing that gap.
And for these reasons I know ballet is not dying.
Diversity in ballet:
I think that it's important to expand
and show people that it can be inclusive.
It's a touchy subject, and I've never been afraid to talk about it,
but racism in ballet, I think it's there, it's always been there,
and I think it's something that we should openly be able to talk about.
Not just so black and white as in, "Who's there dancing?"
but within the storylines of these old ballets.
Story ballets are the most classic within the ballet repertory.
This question comes to me:
Could old storylines that have racial connotations
contribute to the lack of racial diversity in ballet?
And, I think that-
You think of these characters in these ballets,
they take place in a foreign land, in India, with the ballet "La Bayadère;"
or in an imaginary land,
the "Land of the Sweets," "The Nutcracker;"
"Giselle" in a graveyard in the afterworld.
So, should we take offense to these stories
or merely accept them as they are, as stories and fairy tales?
And I feel, through my experience as a black woman,
I definitely can't take to heart playing these characters
that are created in these story ballets.
I think I've always had an understanding
that I'm an actress when I step onto the stage,
and through the words of Lauren Anderson, if you guys don't know who that is,
former African American principal dancer, with the Houston Ballet,
and I will never forgive her words: "No one is actually a sugar plum fairy."
So why should we get so caught up in these characters that we're playing?
You know, I just don't think that we should take offense
if the character is supposed to be a submissive woman or a slave girl,
you know these are all characters in fairy tales.
Okay, something else that I would like to talk about.
Oh. That's not where I'm at.
Here we go...
An alternate history:
There's so much history within the classical ballet world
that no one talks about.
And I think that people would be surprised to know
of how many different nationalities
have such a deep history in the classical ballet world.
So I wanted to share my history as a black woman.
Black women have never really been given the opportunity
to openly represent classical ballet.
Discovering this, I felt alone in a world that had become my home,
and it gave me mixed feelings.
I did some of my own research
and discovered a world that was so fascinating and comforting to me.
So I'm going to talk about some dancers.
I have a feeling that you guys haven't heard of a lot of them
because they're just not put out there.
Janet Collins who is the first woman here, one of the first black ballerinas.
She danced at the Metropolitan Opera.
Then of course there's Raven Wilkinson, who, it's pretty incredible,
she lives five blocks from me and we're really close friends now.
She was a ballerina with the Ballets Russes in the '50s,
and that's a crazy story
that you guys should research if you don't know who she is.
Arthur Mitchell, of course, was the principal dancer
with New York City Ballet - the first black man ever,
and then he founded Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Dolores Browne -
the New York Negro Ballet in the '50s.
These are all such inspirational stories,
and things that weren't introduced to me growing up.
So I think it's so important for us to know
every side of the history of classical ballet.
I do understand that the ballerina represents ballet,
and having a European-based history,
seeing woman of color in this role is hard for many to accept.
Finding out that African Americans have a rich history in the ballet world
was an incredible discovery for me.
Part of what I realize now as a part of my journey,
is to share their stories.
The evolution of ballet:
I think this is so important
because I think that probably most of you are really familiar
with everything that's on TV now that's related to dance.
I couldn't be more excited about it.
Different forms of media, we have the movie the "Black Swan,"
we have "Dancing with the Stars," "So You Think You Can Dance,"
and I found my way into pop culture media.
Even though I have been given these outlets to collaborate,
I find it my duty to pay respect
to the art and culture of classical ballet while doing so.
TV shows, music, movies, sports are all platform in my eyes
to spark interest into a world
that can seem intimidating and unreachable.
So I want to show you guys a little video. This was really cool.
It was something that I did with a former NFL player.
His name is Sean James and he has a student athlete foundation,
so we did this collaboration,
and this really cool video.
Let me show you a little bit of...
Uh oh. (Static sounds)
(Video: Electronic sounds)
(Music)
Misty Copeland: I think it's important to see the similarities...
Sorry.
Oh god, what did I do?
...to see the similarities with dance and to see that we are athletes,
and I think of athletes as artists as well.
Sorry, I just messed this up again.
As well as collaborating with Prince, being part of his Welcome to America Tour,
dancing on stage at Madison Square Garden,
I think these are all incredible ways of staying true to classical ballet
but opening up a world to people
that probably wouldn't want to step into the Metropolitan Opera House
and see a classical ballet.
So I think it's important to have these collaborations,
to spark interest and keep ballet alive outside of the classical ballet world.
The next thing I want to talk about is creating new classics,
which I think is so important.
In my opinion...
In my opinion, there's a very fine line
between reworking classics and changing them.
Keeping the classics alive and remaining faithful to them
while creating new ones.
There are certain ballets that will forever remain classics:
"Swan Lake," "La Bayedère," "Giselle," "Les Sylphides," "La Sylphide,"
"Don Quixote."
I don't think that any of those should be touched,
and I know some people feel differently.
Is that where I am?
Yup.
(Laughter)
Tradition and history are what make this art form so special and unique.
We can't abandon that.
While staying true and keeping those classics alive,
we can build and create new classics and a bright future for ballet.
Allowing new choreographers the space, without judgement, to create,
we could very well have another George Balanchine in our presence.
If you guys don't know who George Balanchine is,
he founded the New York City Ballet,
and choreographed so many ballets that are now classics.
And to think, then, it was the new modern thing,
and now his ballets are classics,
so I think it's so important to keep that alive,
to give hope to new choreographers.
Now we have Wayne McGregor, with the Royal Ballet;
we have Alexei Ratmansky,
who I'm so thrilled that I was a part of a creation
of his new version of "The Firebird."
So I think it's important for the future
to keep these choreographers motivated.
And on a different path, without having to change the classics.
The last thing that I want to talk about
is educating our youth on classical ballet.
I believe in progression and change to allow for growth.
I think it's important to know and respect our history.
What I feel so strongly about and such a connection to
with classical ballet is the structure of it all.
That is the one thing I don't believe should change.
Classical ballet is different from other art forms
in that we have stayed true to the formal etiquette.
No matter what age you are in this field, you treat the more experienced dancers
or the higher in rank with respect.
I think that it's important to continue on with this tradition of the structure
because I think it can serve a child
in every aspect of their life and learning.
Ballet culture:
I don't know if you guys know much about the culture of it.
It's really interesting that we don't really write things down.
And we kind of rely on a video, but you know ballets that were created
in the early 1900s or 1800s, you can't really look at video footage,
so a lot of it really depends on memories and passed down stories
of this choreography and keeping it alive, which I think is so cool about it.
But yes, we rely on the memory of our predecessors
to pass on the knowledge of style and steps down to the smallest details.
Our ballet masters, that sounds crazy to say in this day and age,
our ballet master and mistresses,
but those are like our coaches, are usually former dancers
that have danced the roles that they are teaching and coaching us on,
and really sharing their experiences,
with probably the choreographer as it was set on them.
I think it's so important to bring it back,
to the origin of the ballerina which is artistry,
and I feel like that's gotten so lost, with my generation even.
Artistry is what separates a ballet dancer from a ballerina -
a prima ballerina.
This generation, my generation of dancers,
definitely seem to be more focused on tricks,
instant gratification, but I think you can probably apply that to every aspect,
not just in the classical ballet world.
But, I think that they're kind of hooked on this instant gratification
and response from the audience based on, I think, a very empty movement
that is no longer the origin of the technique,
so I'm really adamant about keeping the classical technique alive,
I think it's important to do your research,
learn the history, to carry on this art form.
I feel very fortunate to be in a position to show that our youth is fully capable
of carrying on such a rich art form and keeping it alive.
And I think that the future of ballet looks so bright.
Thank you.
(Applause)