Misty Copeland and James Whiteside appear in Swan Lake at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.
Copeland, the Missouri-born ballerina who's become a forceful voice for diversity in ballet and achieved a celebrity that far transcends that rarified world, was named principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre on Tuesday — the first African-American woman to reach that status in the company's 75-year history.
Copeland, 32, fought tears as she spoke about her promotion, which she said was a lifetime dream — but such a difficult one to attain that she never really thought it would happen. "This is it," she said.
"This has been my dream since I was 13, to be a principal dancer and reach these heights." "But it hasn't been overnight," she added at a hastily arranged news conference — a rarity for a ballet promotion.
"It's been 14 years of extremely hard work ... I'm just so extremely honoured to be an African-American and to be in this position."
And, Copeland said, she hoped her ascension to the very top ranks of ballet would inspire other young dancers of colour — "all the little girls" — to stick with their own dreams.