Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina

Misty, the author of the memoir Life in Motion, is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Born in 1982 to Syliva DelaCerna and Doug Copeland in Kansas City, she is the fourth of six children. Raised in an unstable family environment, Misty and her family moved around, finally settling in San Pedro outside Los Angeles. Having come to ballet in the relatively “old” age of 13 with startling success, she was labeled a prodigy and gained media attention. She received more news coverage during the highly publicized legal battle between her mother, Sylvia, and her ballet teacher, Cindy.

Misty attended the summer intensive programs at the San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, where she was offered a position in the company at the age of 16. After electing to complete high school in San Pedro first, Misty officially joined the studio company of ABT in 2000 and moved to the corps de ballet in 2001. In 2007, she became the first African American woman promoted to soloist with ABT in over 20 years. 

Life in Motion, which recounts her early life and development as a dancer, ends in 2012, following her first performance as the Firebird in the eponymous ballet production, after which she withdrew from the season due to injury.