Misty Copeland is finding life after ballet, starting with a new movie

USA Today

3 days ago

NEW YORK − For Misty Copeland, dance has always been her activism.
In 2015, she became the first Black woman in American Ballet Theatre history to be promoted to principal dancer, more than a decade after joining the esteemed company. Since then, she's used her foundation and myriad books to help promote diversity and inclusion across the ballet world.
'I was the only Black woman at ABT for the first 10 years of my career," says Copeland, 42, who grew up in near poverty with five siblings in a single-mother household. 'As I was learning how to navigate that space, art was always this tool that allowed me to speak when I was young and ashamed of my upbringing. It became this way for me to feel confident in my own skin.'
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Now, as she prepares to retire from ABT this fall, Copeland has set her sights on other endeavors including Life in Motion Productions, which she co-founded with former ballerina Leyla Fayyaz. Their company is behind the stirring new documentary 'Match in a Haystack' (in theaters this week in Washington and Denver, expanding nationwide throughout August and September), which follows a contemporary dance group in Ukraine as they reunite for their first performance piece since Russia's invasion in 2022.
The documentary showcases the resilience and comradery of these women as they go about their daily lives, attempting to retain some sense of normalcy amid the relentless airstrikes and violence. For Copeland, the film 'just made perfect sense to be a part of,' illustrating how dance can be 'healing in times of destruction and war.'
'In these terrifying, devastating moments, they still stand strong and work together as a team,' says Copeland, tucked away upstairs at Manhattan's ornate Village East Cinema just before the movie's premiere. 'These are the things we don't highlight enough in dance. Behind the scenes in dance companies, we're very supportive of each other. It's not this kind of cutthroat art form that we often see when dance is depicted in film and TV.'
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'Match in a Haystack' was directed by Joe Hill, a former journalist for Vice, who wanted to reframe how the media covers conflicts. Rather than solely 'death and destruction, I wanted to talk about this story of creation that also takes place,' he says.
Returning to their rehearsal spaces in Kyiv, these women 'remarked on how special it was for them to come back to their bodies and remember that aspect of themselves,' says Stefanie Noll, a producer and movement director on the project. 'Throughout the whole process, they were really trying to determine if creation is a worthwhile thing during war. And that in itself is a form of resistance: this constant asking of questions and seeing what really matters.'
Hill emailed Life in Motion about coming aboard as producers and heard back right away. Copeland's role has primarily been as an advocate for the documentary, which recently launched a pay-it-forward ticketing initiative so that artists, students and Ukrainian organizations can come see it for themselves.
'It was really meaningful for us having Misty because she represents so much of what dance is really, truly about,' Hill says. 'I get the sense that her future ambitions have a lot to do with how she can shepherd things she finds important into the broader conversation. She's been one of the film's greatest champions.'
Going forward, Copeland wants to continue being a mentor for young ballerinas and advocating for arts education in schools. After producing and starring in short film "Flower" in 2023, she teases multiple projects in development, all telling stories of women and minorities that 'we don't see in the mainstream.'
As for her choice to leave ABT in October, she says it's a decision that's been years in the making, meaning she's had time to process all the emotions that come with it.
'I've never seen my career on the stage as the end all be all. I always felt like dance was a stepping stone to so many things,' Copeland says. 'As we say in ballet, it's a révérence,' or a deep bow of gratitude at the end of a performance. 'It's been a slow, easy transition out of this. I'm just fortunate that I get to have this amazing moment to really say thank you.'