Misty Copeland to Debut as Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake"

Misty Copeland will dance her Odette/Odile debut in American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake on Wednesday, September 3, during the company’s tour to Brisbane, Australia.

The performance will be another historic moment in Copeland’s career: she will be ABT’s first black Swan Queen. She follows in the footsteps of other groundbreaking African American ballerinas, like Houston Ballet principal Lauren Anderson—who danced the role in 1996 and who withstood death-threats because of the casting.

Copeland has been vocal about her desire to perform the leads in major classical ballets and new roles have been coming her way lately. Speaking to The Australian‘s arts reporter, Sharon Verghis, Copeland described how happy she was to perform the role, and how she has been seeking advice from other ABT stars, such as Polina Semionova, Gillian Murphy and Diana Vishneva.

There’s quite a bit of pressure riding on this performance, and all of Misty’s fans are no doubt waiting breathlessly to see how she pulls it off.