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Ballet Dancer Misty Copeland Just Made History -- Again

She just became American Ballet Theater's first-ever black female principal dancer.

Misty Copeland, the ballet dancer who's been making history by challenging racial bias in the world of ballet, has just been become the first black female principle dancer in the 75-year history of the American Dance Theater.

In an interview with MTV's LookDifferent last year, Copeland said, "I think that the ballet world is so far behind the rest of the world with growth and accepting diversity. So, it’s kind of been something that I’ve wanted to do: bring diversity to the ballet world and educate people in this circle, this very small circle that is the ballet community, and show them that every ethnicity has the ability to be molded to be a part of this world.”

“Once I reached the point of being promoted to soloist,” she added, “I knew I had a bigger purpose and that there were more eyes on me and that I had become a role model.”

"Here at American Ballet Theatre, I was only African-American woman in the company for a decade," she told LookDifferent. As a result, she said knew what it felt like to feel alone, and she strives to provide guidance and mentorship for other black ballet dancers.

In recent years Copeland has made the cover of Time magazine, written a bestselling memoir about her life as a dancer, and been the subject of a documentary.

We couldn't be happier that her dreams are coming true.

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