Misty Copeland Takes Her Final Bow as Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theater

Misty Copeland has taken her final bow.

On Wednesday, Oct. 22, Copeland, 43, celebrated her final ballet performance with American Ballet Theater ahead of her retirement. The professional dancer served as the dance company’s first Black female principal dancer in history since its founding in 1939.

The performance, which took place at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, titled “A Celebration Honoring Misty Copeland,” included performances by Copeland and other dancers, speeches from esteemed guests and video. montages of Copeland’s 25-year tenure with the ABT. The event was co-chaired by Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey, and a part of ABT’s Fall Gala.

After a five-year hiatus, Copeland returned to the stage for the event. The prima ballerina became the company’s first Black principal dancer at 32 years old.

Ahead of her final performance, she told PEOPLE exclusively that she would advise young dancers to “Try to find the joy. It’s one of the hardest things in the world to do, but, you have to remember the joy and why you do it.”

Copeland has been vocal about making ballet a more inclusive and accessible space for Black performers and fans. During a June 2025 interview with The New York Times Magazine announcing her retirement, Copeland reflected on her impact as the changing face of elite ballet.

“My whole career is proof that when you have diversity, people come together and want to understand each other and want to be a community together,” she told the outlet.

“So many young Black and brown people didn’t even know Lincoln Center was a place they could step foot in,” Copeland continued. “When they see my poster on the front, they feel like it opens their minds up to a whole new world.”

While performing on stage for more than two decades of her illustrious ballet career, Copeland also founded The Misty Copeland Foundation, authored numerous children’s books (including Bunheadspublished in 2020) and memoirs, and co-founded Life In Motion, a production company.

During her June conversation withThe New York Times MagazineCopeland remarked on the prejudiced stereotypes that once kept Black dancers off of the most prestigious stages in the world.

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“Black people have been told for generations, ‘You all have flat feet, so you’re not going to be in pointe shoes; your butts are too big, your thighs.’ We don’t all look this way, and that’s not all bad anyway,” Copeland said.

She continued, “It’s about opening your mind to the possibilities of what can be created when you see something done on a body in a way that you’re not used to.”