Janet Collins, Raven Wilkinson, Debra Austin, Nora Kimball, Misty Copeland, Francesca Hayward. All of these successful black ballet dancers have something in common: they skew toward the fairer end of the sepia spectrum. Onstage, the duskiness of their complexions can be all but washed out, bleached by the lights. From the audience, they could present […]

In 2012, Misty Copeland was already a star on the American Ballet Theatre stage. But a national ad campaign for Diet Dr. Pepper effec­tively introduced the dancer to a whole new audience. Gilda Squire, Copeland’s manager who negotiated the deal with the brand’s advertising company, says partnering with the soda was a carefully planned move. […]

Misty Copeland and Eric Tamm in Ratmansky’s Nutcracker. PC Rosalie O’Connor Here at Dance Magazine, we have a hard time imagining Nutcracker without much dancing. But the more we learn about Disney’s plans for its upcoming live-action movie titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, the more we fear how little dancing will be involved. The good news: Misty Copeland will […]

Genre-crossing singer and songwriter Prince, 57, died in his Minnesota home this morning. Though few details have been made public, several news sites report that he fell ill and canceled a concert earlier in the month, and his plane had to make an emergency landing after a concert a few days ago. Much like his […]

Photo by Jayme Thornton Dance Magazine is the magazine I grew up reading. It influenced me to be the dancer I am today. So being asked not only to be on the cover a second time, but also to be the guest editor of this issue, feels so incredibly surreal. When I considered what stories […]

It’s not difficult to see why filmmakers would want to create a biopic of Misty Copeland’s story.  The plot seems tailor-made for Hollywood: A 13-year-old black girl wanders into a ballet class at her local Boys & Girls Club and turns out to be a prodigy. By 18, she joins American Ballet Theatre and sets […]

It’s time to add one more line to the list of Misty Copeland’s accomplishments: Dance Magazine guest editor. That’s right, the American Ballet Theatre principal—and ballet megastar—joined our team for the May issue. Why Misty? Because she’s got a perspective like no one else in the dance world today, and we wanted to get her […]

Go behind the scenes at our photo shoot with May 2016 guest editor and cover star, Misty Copeland! To purchase your copy of the issue, visit dancemagazine.com/misty