WorldMisty Copeland launches the Be Bold program to encourage...

Misty Copeland launches the Be Bold program to encourage diversity in ballet : NPR


Misty Copeland performs onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy


hide caption

toggle caption

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy


Misty Copeland performs onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Throughout her ballet career, Misty Copeland has worked to break racial barriers in the world of dance.

She is doing it again — this time with an after-school dance program for children of color.

The Be Bold initiative will “make ballet more accessible, affordable and fun,” according to the program’s website. It will be an affordable, 12-week extracurricular based in New York City for children ages 8-10.

The program will provide lessons on the basics of ballet, music and health as well as offer tutoring and mentoring. It will take place in Boys & Girls Club centers and similar community-based, child-serving sites.

Copeland herself dedicates part of her success to a free ballet class offered by the Boys & Girls Club. She would go on to become the first Black woman to be named principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre company.

During her time in ABT, she publicly spoke out against the racism of some dance critics who questioned her body type for being too “bulky” or “busty.”

“I think it’s just something maybe that I will never escape from,” Copeland told NPR’s Steve Inskeep in 2014.

“But my mission, my voice, my story, my message, is not for them. And I think it’s more important to think of the people that I am influencing and helping to see a broader picture of what beauty is.”

Copeland has also written several books exploring the experiences of dancers of color — including her own. A memoir about Copeland’s friendship with Raven Wilkinson, her mentor and the first African American ballerina to tour the U.S., will be coming out in November.

Copeland also told the New York Times she is planning to return to the stage next year after going on a hiatus in December 2019.



Original Source Link

Latest News

Wall Street could see another good quarter after strong start to 2024

Wall Street could be in for another solid quarter as stocks have embarked on a strong start to...

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced By Judge To 25 Years In Prison

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a...

Bug Zappers Are Swarming on Amazon

Call it a bug zapper, not a feature.Data from Fakespot, a service owned by Mozilla that helps consumers...

District Court Judgment in 303 Creative v. Elenis (the Wedding Web Site Design Case)

Following the Supreme Court's remand to the Tenth Circuit, which in turn led to the remand to district...

How patient-led research could speed up medical innovation

Melissa Red Hoffman was “feeling really stuck” last summer. A 50-year-old surgeon in Asheville, N.C., Hoffman had been...

Must Read

RH shares pop on Q4 earnings as the company expects accelerated demand

ShareShare Article via FacebookShare Article via TwitterShare Article...

Why cryonics is a non-starter in our quest for immortality

It's a scene plucked from science fiction: On...
- Advertisement -

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you