Plié, relevé, freak out about the new Misty Copeland TV show
Yesterday, the Oxygen network announced that America’s most famous ballerina, Misty Copeland (hello!), will soon be starring in her very own reality show. The program will be called The Misty Copeland Project, and it is very much in keeping with Misty’s popularity as a role model for young women and girls.
The Hollywood Reporter describes the show like this:
As talented hopefuls from diverse backgrounds descend upon New York to take on the next major step in their ballet careers, who better to train and mentor them than Copeland — the renowned ballerina who herself has defied all odds and shattered boundaries by overcoming the cultural pressures of professional ballet. Copeland, who began taking ballet lessons on the basketball court of a Boys & Girls Club at age 13 and was considered a prodigy, made history by becoming the second African-American female soloist in the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. With the opportunity of a lifetime and chance to catapult to the top of the ballet world, these aspiring dancers’ passion, commitment and hard work will be center stage in Misty’s Master Class.
It’s like The Voice meets Project Runway meets Fame. In other words, amazing. This sounds like the perfect project for Misty, who has so awesomely become an inspiration not only to young dancers, but also to girls and women in general.
As Misty told USA Today’s Charisse Jones, “I have stepped into the position of feeling like a role model. I’ve been happy to fall into this position and share my story. I know many people can relate. And I don’t feel like just because I’m black, I need to be a role model just for black people. We have to work towards not seeing color.”
The Misty Copeland Project will be the latest in a long list of projects Misty is involved in as she turns her ballet dancing into a full-on business. She’s also a writer and becoming more and more of a media personality — appearing as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance? and also in a highly-celebrated Under Armour commercial.
Whatever Misty does, she bring her message of self-acceptance and determination with her, with every new project bringing that mantra to a much wider audience than those lucky few fortunate enough to attend one of her live ballet performances. It’s that message and access that makes us so deeply excited about the new series.
No word yet on when the series will premiere, but trust us, folks, DVRs are set.
