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Copeland Dancing Toward Diversity Analysis

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Recommended: Diversity in ballet

The story of Misty Copeland has always interested me in many ways. I may not be an African American but the thought of her not being extremely skinny and still making her way up to principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre has encouraged me to accept my body the way it is and just dance from the heart. She has shown the world what it’s like to follow your own path no matter what road you take to get there. “Dancing Toward Diversity”, talks about Copeland in a very positive way. She’s been given so many opportunities to make dancers aware of the problems with diversity in ballet, even so far as the American Ballet Theatre creating scholarships for kids of color to help pay for them to attend their summer intensives. Ballet Austin’s director says "To have a chance, you have to take class every day. That goes on for four to five hours. Very few have someone who will support them financially." But what about the white kids? Where will they get their money? It’s hard for anyone to become a professional ballet dancer. I do think it’s great to give these African American kids a chance to make it in the stereotypical ballet world of a small framed white woman floating across the stage and Copeland has broken the mold by being very muscular and African American. But what’s all this talk about her being the first African American …show more content…

The author gets very in depth with colored dancers and how history was made even before Copeland was born. Others like Anne Benna Sims and Nora Kimball were also given this title in their own time. I agree with this author because of the problem with lies being told about Misty Copeland. We need to study the whole story and get the real truth. Reporters are notorious for making things up to make a story sound more

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