Misty Copeland's Ballet Send-Off

"Sometimes a return is also a farewell. Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, may be the most famous American ballerina of her generation, but she hasn't actually performed a ballet in five years, since before the pandemic. In the interim, she has not been idle: she published several books, had a child, and established a foundation that provides mentoring-and ballet training-to kids in under-resourced areas."

"Her career, and her advocacy for Black dancers, have had a measurable effect in reversing attitudes within the field. But something was still missing: the classic ballet farewell. The tinsel, the mountains of flowers, the tears. So she's coming back for one final performance, on Oct. 22, as part of A.B.T.'s fall season at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theatre (Oct. 15-Nov. 1)."

"It's hard to overstate the effort and the will power it must have taken Copeland to get back on pointe after such a hiatus. At her farewell, she will perform a rapturous pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan's "Romeo and Juliet" and an excerpt from Twyla Tharp's sultry "Sinatra Suite." And Kyle Abraham, a choreographer who has lately infused ballet with his seductive, sinuous style, has been brought in to compose a valedictory piece for Copeland and her longtime colleague Calvin Royal III."

Misty Copeland has not performed a ballet in five years, since before the pandemic. She published books, had a child, and established a foundation that provides mentoring-and ballet training-to kids in under-resourced areas. Her career and advocacy for Black dancers have had a measurable effect in reversing attitudes within the ballet field. She will give a classic farewell performance on Oct. 22 during A.B.T.'s fall season at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theatre (Oct. 15-Nov. 1). She will dance a MacMillan Romeo and Juliet pas de deux, an excerpt from Tharp's Sinatra Suite, and a new valedictory piece by Kyle Abraham with Calvin Royal III. The season combines early-company works and Tharp repertory, including Antony Tudor's 1938 Gala Performance and Tharp's Push Comes to Shove.

Read at The New Yorker