MALVEAUX: A ballerina is raising the bar in the mainly white world of classical ballet. In this "What Matters," we meet Misty Copeland, an award-winning dancer who's inspiring young girls of color to stay on their toes.</s>MALVEAUX (voice-over): Misty Copeland isn't your average ballerina. She's the first black female soloist for the American Ballet Theater in more than 20 years.</s>MISTY COPELAND, BALLERINA: I think that most people's idea of what a classical ballerina is, is a white woman, very thin, you know, petite, without curves.</s>MALVEAUX: Outside the ballerina world, curvy may not be the word used would use to describe Misty, but she is reshaping the idea of what a ballerina should look like.</s>COPELAND: A lot of the challenges I think black women in ballet face are feeling like you don't look like, you know, the people around you.</s>MALVEAUX: Copeland began dancing at age 13 and was often the only black girl in her dance classes. She says race wasn't an issue when she fell in love with ballet.</s>COPELAND: I never questioned myself. I never thought, I'm not a ballerina because I don't look like the girl next to me.</s>MALVEAUX: And now she's on a mission to make sure young minority girls feel the same way through her work with organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs. She hopes to encourage dancers of color to be true to themselves.</s>IMANI DEJESUS, BALLET STUDENT: She taught us that even if we're different, if we're unique, we can be just as equal as anybody else.</s>MALVEAUX: Copeland says the first step is to follow your dreams.</s>COPELAND: The message I want to send to them is just that anything is possible if you truly are passionate about it and give it your all.</s>MALVEAUX: Good for her.
Changing The Color of Ballet