LIFE IN MOTION by Misty Copeland

The first time I heard about Misty Copeland was when I was reading an article in the “International New York Times”. It was back in 2015, and the journalist was praising her for acquiring the position of Prima Ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre, a title traditionally reserved only for the most exceptional dancers of their generation. More importantly, she was the first African-American woman to receive this title. 

Finding myself intrigued by the article, I decided to buy her book and when I was starting reading it, I was surprised to find out that Misty did not start taking ballet lessons until she was thirteen years old.
Ballet specialists consider that by this age you are no longer able to have any notable performances, let alone to start a career. So, in her case, becoming a Prima Ballerina was more commendable.

Her story touched me because she had rough upbringing, and despite this, she succeeded in becoming the famous ballerina, known as today. (By the way, before becoming a  Prima Ballerina she was invited by Prince to dance in his concerts).

Furthermore, I was proud to find out that she was inspired to embrace this career by our famous Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comăneci.

“My first model for movement wasn’t a dancer at all. It was a gymnast, Nadia Comăneci. I wasn’t born when Comăneci made history in the 1976 Olympics, becoming the first woman to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics and winning gold medals for her strength and elegance on the balance beam and parallel bars. Instead, I discovered her when I was 7 and saw her story depicted in a Life movie.
Smitten, I recorded the broadcast on our VCR and would sit on the floor in front of the TV, pressing the rewind button so I could watch it again and again. “

“I started to teach myself gymnastics, and my body knew what my mind didn’t yet comprehend: that rhythmic motion came as naturally to me as breathing.
I didn’t question why I could instantly do moves that it might take others months to achieve, why my arms and legs had the elasticity of a rubber band. They just did, and I just knew.”

“Eventually, I realized that I didn’t really want to be a gymnast. It was the floor routines that transfixed me, not all the tumbling and flips.
But for the first time, I’d tapped into the power of movement and felt its meditative grace. In it, I’d found an escape.”

Kindle, 2014