Tanya Mosley (host)

It was a farewell to the company where she made history a decade ago as the first Black woman promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 85-year history.

By ballet standards, Copland came to the art form late, at 13 years old.

It was the culmination of a journey that began not in a traditional ballet academy—

but in a boys' and girls' club gym, where a shy teenager first discovered what her body could say through movement.

She rose through ABT's ranks to dance the roles that define classical ballet.

Odette O'Dill in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and the title role in Firebird.

But her impact extends far beyond technique and tradition.

As a best-selling author, film producer, and founder of the Misty Copeland Foundation, her goal is to build pathways for children who've never seen themselves reflected on the ballet stage.

Now, as Copeland steps away from ABT, she's turning her focus from performance to transformation, working to remake the art form that has for many centuries defined beauty through exclusion.

Misty Copeland, welcome back to Fresh Air, and it's a pleasure to have you as you enter this new chapter in your life.

You never wanted a farewell performance, but you got one.

I mean, there's a 15-minute standing ovation.

How are you feeling now that it's over?

You know, Misty, you always seem so composed.

And I got to watch the standing ovation at the end, the 15 minutes.

But in that moment, you were also dealing with a hip injury.

Yeah.

You were in a lot of pain.

Oh, Misty, every time I think about you, I think about the pain that you endure.

I mean, all ballerinas to a certain extent, but yours, you've been so open about it.