For maybe two months I’d have random moments of quick thoughts. Although quick, they were important. They were worth pondering in my mind because, whenever it actually came true, it’d mean things in dance, things in ballet are really changing. Those quick, repetitive thoughts were about the retirement of Misty Danielle Copeland.
Today was the today. Today is when I actually read the news. Although I’d been having thoughts of the inevitable, reading that NY Times headline made me feel more mentally prepared than I assumed. Allow me to explain. I recognize the retirement of Misty Copeland, just about on the heels of Gillian Murphy's, to be an announcement of a monumental shift in ballet. When I was a high school dancer, the most beautiful dancers— the dancers I looked up to, seemed to dance forever. While companies are looking younger and social media is hailing as a prominent stimulant to detect and experience true artistry, the turning of the tide is truly here.
I’ll be the first to say dance has not felt the same in years. For a while there, it seemed so far gone. Loving and learning dance once felt simple— pure. Nowadays, it’s all about sport, asserting athleticism, and squeezing the work into the thoughts and behaviors of everyday culture. Ballet and professional dance in general has never needed to integrate or try becoming relatable through social media or trends. Honestly, it has always been most beautiful through timeless exclusivity. It was a world you wanted to peer into, once kept with ethereal yet tangible beauty. You would get there and never want to leave.
People like Gillian and Misty are part of that. Their retirements are blaring announcements to the world of ballet and dance at large. Grab the baton. Bridge the gap. This is a time to recreate timeless artistry and dance careers from blueprints that have been etched over decades. I wanted Misty to dance forever. Well, I wanted her to dance in the capacity we’ve known, long enough to dance with her. A commercial, some project with Linda Celeste Sims, a series maybe. I just really value Misty and the work she’s done. Much like Raven Wilkinson and Delores Brown, speaking with her truly marked me forever.
Pictured with Raven Wilkinson, Symphony Space, 2017
Pictured with Delores Brown, Denver, CO, 2017
While living on Martha’s Vineyard, I almost did a documentary with Misty. A dear dance teacher of mine recommended me to a producer who called me up and presented the idea. I’m not sure what ever happened with that project but I’d love for it to come back around. Misty Copeland is fearless. She is humble. At least that’s the way I see her. As a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, fresh off of the stage and onto the evening NYC streets, she noticed me frozen right in the middle of the sidewalk. Very graciously, she backtracked and there I stood, in one of the greatest moments of my dancing life. The dance career of Misty Copeland thrusted me even further into my love for ballet. During a time where I was told that I would never be anything and often fought against myself to live and dance in my developing greatness, Misty's career confirmed so much. I could truly go on and on. This isn't just another retirement. This is an opening. It is an invitation to join the ranks of history-making, world-changing, audacious artistry, for the love of dance and ballet.
Pictured with Misty Copeland, NYC, 2014
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