How Misty Copeland Turned Instability Into Ballet

Dr. Becky (0:04)

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That's myskylight.com/b-e-c-k-y for $30 off your 15-inch calendar. myskylight.com/becky. I had a really interesting conversation with my eight-year-old the other day. I was talking with him and my husband, and we were talking about stories from when we were younger, about things that we wanted and didn't have and memories of being at a dance and all the kids having a certain shirt and not being able to get that shirt, just real-life struggles of wanting and not having. He ended up asking a really interesting question. How much wanting and having versus wanting and not having is good for a kid? What's the right percentage in terms of developing into an adult who's resilient, who works hard? Obviously, there's no answer to this question, but it's actually something that kept coming to mind today as I was talking with the absolutely incredible Misty Copeland. Misty grew up in real poverty, in real instability. Men in and out of her home, not being sure what food would be on the table, living in a motel.

She started ballet at 13, which probably surprises a lot of us, even we know she's one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. She definitely had an extreme version of wanting and not having, and I'm not just talking about t-shirts. I'm talking about safety. I'm talking about connection. I'm talking about people asking her basic questions, about her life, and about her day.

And then a lot changed in her tween years. And then here she is today, right? She's the first black woman to become a principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre. She is an icon, and she's more than that. She's married. She has a four-year-old son. She delights in the safety and stability of her home today and the love and attention she pours into her child. You're going to get so much out of this conversation I had with Misty today. It's one that left me with so many new thoughts and things that I want to do today in my home. I'm Dr. Becky, and this is another episode in the series, How We're Raised. This one with Misty Copeland.

Misty, so you've recently retired from dancing. You have a four-year-old. Just let's get started. Tell me kind of what a normal Tuesday, Wednesday looks like for you.

Misty Copeland (3:44)

Oh, my gosh. It's so crazy because I've spent so much of more than half of my life with so much structure, and being a classical ballerina and working for a company, and now I am in this interesting time where I call the shots, and I create my own schedule. So every day looks so different that it's hard to even say. I mean, I guess the consistent thing is waking up and taking Jackson to school, like getting him ready. So it's really, yeah, that's like the consistent thing, is that, you know, he's up at 7.30, I'm making him, right now it's been like two months straight of Hall of French Toast that he wants every morning.

Dr. Becky (4:31)

I mean, that's, I'm, when do I get the invite?

Misty Copeland (4:34)

You want to, yeah, come on over.

Dr. Becky (4:35)

Yeah, I do, I do, because that is not my morning with my kids or me, you know? So that, my children shall not hear this interview. Nope.

Misty Copeland (4:44)

I only have one, so it's a little easier. It's manageable. Yeah, and taking him to school, like it's kind of like a non-negotiable, unless there's, you know, there are certain circumstances if I'm traveling or something, but, and then, you know, I have a lot of meetings, whether it's for the foundation or for my production company, depending on if I'm in the midst of writing a book, you know, there will be time committed to that. I have a book coming out in the fall, so I try and squeeze in, you know, some kind of movement, moving my body.