Misty Copeland Doc Opens in Theaters Today

Misty Copeland in George Nelson’s A BALLERINA’S TALE. Courtesy of Oskar Landi. © Urban Romances, Inc. A Sundance Selects Release.

It’s here! The much-anticipated Misty Copeland documentary, A Ballerina’s Tale, opens in select theaters today, and is also available by video-on-demand on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Playstation, Xbox, Sundance NOW and most major cable VOD providers. The film follows Copeland as she recovers from a serious 2012 shin injury and as her message on diversity in ballet starts to gain momentum.

With all of the intense media coverage of Copeland’s career, A Ballerina’s Tale doesn’t reveal a whole lot that we don’t already know. However, it’s laced with footage of Copeland as a coltish young dance student that shows just how prodigious she was, and chronicles her deep frustration after surgery and subsequent recovery process in detail. And for those who missed her in Swan Lake, there’s ample performance footage of her 2014 debut as Odette/Odile in Brisbane, Australia. But the movie also reveals that ABT’s vested interest in her started early: At the urging of management, former ABT vice chair Susan Fales Hill mentored the young corps member by introducing her to an influential circle of prominent black women. With this added support (and loads of hard work in the studio), Copeland found her focus and her voice—and the rest is history. For more information on where to see A Ballerina’s Tale, click here.

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