Misty Copeland reveals how Prince secretly saved a Harlem ballet school
Misty Copeland is one of ballet's brightest stars -- and Prince knew that well before everyone else.
The Purple One, who died in April, worked with the famous ballerina as early as 2009, casting her in his "Crimson and Clover" video. Prince also brought Copeland with him on tour in Europe, as well as to Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Izod Center in New Jersey. He also had her join him for a performance of "The Beautiful Ones" on Lopez Tonight in 2011.
"I wouldn’t be the woman or the artist that I am had I not worked with him or met him," she tells Mashable.
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Last year, Copeland became the American Ballet Theatre's first African American principle ballerina. She was recently honored with her own Barbie doll.
Prince saw that potential years before the rest of us.
His legacy as someone who supported and empowered female artists is something we should always remember, says Copeland.
"He celebrates the woman in a very powerful and positive way."
Back then, she couldn't fathom someone like the Artist believing in her enough to give her full creative control.
"He had so much confidence in me that I never experienced someone having in me, at least at that point in my career," she says.
"I’m so used to being in a field where you don’t have a lot of say and you’re told what to do and you’re criticized for everything that you do. I started to just blossom [with Prince] and I felt like I could have this power, even within my field. He did a lot for me, and did so much for ballet."
One of the ways Prince helped was by donating money to ABT and saving a struggling ballet company in New York.
"He gave money to a school that I was close with at the time, this small ballet school in Harlem," Copeland recalls. "They were about to lose their school, and he’s the reason that the school is still standing."
Copeland is sure that Prince also would have been a big fan of Beyoncé's latest visual album, Lemonade. And in case you're wondering, her own favorite songs so far are "Sorry" and "Forward."
"I'm so happy for Beyoncé and her message and what she’s doing right now ... it’s nice to witness her grow so much as an artist," she says. "Prince would be proud."
Like most Prince fans, Copeland finds it "tough" to accept that he's gone. But she and a friend have a great theory: "Maybe he’s just on an island somewhere and this is all for art," she says with a laugh. "He’s happy and laying in the sun."
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Yohana Desta was the senior film reporter for Mashable. She is a Northern Virginia native and an American University grad. She enjoys carefully curating her Instagram account and can often be found reading books, going to concerts, watching movies and learning way too much about pop culture.
