Original subtitles

00:00:00.000 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:24.425 MISTY COPELAND: People | think of dancers

00:00:26.050 as, like, these perfect, kind | of soft, fairy tale characters.

00:00:31.120 And as dancers, we're | also constantly pushing

00:00:34.180 ourselves to be perfect.

00:00:37.990 It's great to be able to push | yourself and aim for something

00:00:41.850 but also knowing that you | will never achieve perfection.

00:00:49.090 Nowadays, we get so caught | up in this outer experience

00:00:53.200 of how high your leg is | or how skinny someone is.

00:00:57.850 But what makes dancers, | I think, so special

00:01:01.450 is that you wake | up every morning

00:01:03.010 and your body is | going to be different.

00:01:05.278 You may be able to do a triple | pirouette the day before

00:01:07.570 and then the next, you have to | adjust to whatever condition

00:01:10.030 your body is in.

00:01:11.830 We're constantly | starting over again.

00:01:15.220 Every time you | dance, that's just

00:01:16.780 another chance to be reborn.

00:01:20.220 And so I think just, like, | own your power and your voice.

00:01:24.544 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:01:35.420 I know how difficult it can | be, as a dancer, as a student,

00:01:40.730 to not be kind of taken | over by criticism,

00:01:46.920 whether it's from a teacher, | or a critic, or yourself.

00:01:52.550 I think that it's really just | kind of taking everything,

00:01:56.540 like, in moderation.

00:01:58.820 I went through a | really difficult time

00:02:00.530 where I started to believe | people's words that, you know,

00:02:05.810 I wasn't right, I | wasn't good enough,

00:02:07.940 my muscles were too big.

00:02:10.070 Those were code words that dan-- | black dancers have experienced

00:02:14.510 since the beginning | of time, that it's

00:02:16.820 an acceptable way of saying, | you don't have the right skin

00:02:19.910 color for dance.

00:02:21.980 When I think back on how | ballerinas have looked

00:02:25.280 throughout history, to me, | it's important to give back

00:02:28.070 to that place of why | we do what we do.

00:02:30.860 You can be a successful | dancer with any body type.

00:02:34.700 If you're not skinny, | whatever that is,

00:02:37.130 or if you're not tall | enough, if you're

00:02:39.440 too short, if you're to this, | I think, again, it's about--

00:02:43.340 it's about bringing yourself.

00:02:46.640 And so I think it's | such a beautiful thing

00:02:49.100 to be a part of, and I | think that every athlete

00:02:52.460 and every human being should | experience classical dance

00:02:55.980 or dance in some | way at some point.

00:02:58.230 But I think that you | should just take away

00:03:00.620 a simple way of approaching | the ballet technique.

00:03:04.640 I think that you will learn all | that it takes to be confident,

00:03:10.130 to accept who you | are, and embrace who

00:03:14.330 you want to be in the future.

00:03:16.500 You will hear | stories and anecdotes

00:03:20.900 from me that have made me | into the person, the artist,

00:03:25.310 and the dancer that I am.

00:03:28.450 I'm Misty Copeland, and | this is my MasterClass.