Misty Copeland is Heading to Broadway
Misty Copeland for Under Armour. Photo courtesy Under Armour.
I hope you’re not yet too exhausted by the amount of Misty Copeland news going around, because there’s more.
From August 25–September 6, the recently promoted American Ballet Theatre principal will play Ivy Smith in On the Town for 12 performances. Her Broadway debut is an extension of her goal to draw more diverse audiences to ballet, said Copeland in an interview with TIME, which named her to its “TIME 100” list this year: “It’s about bringing them into the dance world and showing them that they can be part of it too, and opening up their dreams.”
ABT has plenty of Jerome Robbins’ work in its repertoire, including Fancy Free, which served as the budding idea for On the Town. (Though according to Copeland’s ABT bio, and my memory, it doesn’t look like she’s ever performed that particular Robbins work herself.) She’s a completely different dancer from the more understated Megan Fairchild, who currently plays Ivy.
Copeland has catapulted to the top of American ballet, become the face of Under Armour, toured with Prince and can now add Broadway star to her list. What’s next, Misty? There aren’t any limits for this new cultural icon.
