Copeland Artistic Greatness

There have been many artists throughout history that portray artistic greatness, each one possessing a unique quality that makes them an exceptional artist. For example, Van Gogh revolutionized painting techniques and Shakespeare defined a new era of the English language. Even so, I believe artistic greatness is only achieved when an artist loves what they do so much that they continue to pursue it through every hardship. I have seen this quality in Misty Copeland, a principal dance at the American Ballet Theater. Misty’s trials include being an African American dancer at ABT, not having the typical ballerina body, and sustaining a severe leg injury, but through all of it, she persevered and continued to dance. Even though most professional ballerinas start training around three years old, Misty Copeland began dancing at the age of 13 at the San Pedro Ballet. While studying ballet there,
She had overcome her severe injury and was ready to prove to the world that she was still an exceptional dancer. In 2014 Copeland was cast as Clara from The Nutcracker, and in 2015, she danced the role of Odette from Swan Lake, making her the first black ballerina to play the “White Swan.” In 2015 Copeland was promoted to principal dancer, making her the first black principal at ABT. Through dedication and endurance, Copeland had finally achieved her dream (Gelchen, “Offical Website of Misty Copeland”). Though she got a late start in training, wasn’t seen as a typical “prima ballerina”, and suffered a severe injury that should have ended her career, Misty Copeland has become one of the most well-known ballerinas inside and outside the dance world. Copeland _ artistic greatness in everything she does, including how she is now an inspiration for African American dancers all over the world and an icon for over-coming adversity. However, most of all, her artistic greatness is shown through her perseverance to achieve her dream against all