<P> After DelaCerna stated that she would always make sure Copeland could dance, both the emancipation papers and restraining orders were dropped . Copeland, who claimed she did not understand the term emancipation, withdrew the petition after informing the judge that such charges no longer represented her wishes . Still, DelaCerna wanted the Bradleys out of her daughter's life . Copeland re-enrolled at San Pedro High School for her junior year (1998--99), on pace to graduate with her original class of 2000 . DelaCerna sought Cantine's advice on finding a new ballet school . Copeland began ballet study at Lauridsen Ballet Centre in Torrance with former ABT dancer Diane Lauridsen, although her dancing was now restricted to afternoons in deference to her schooling . Late in 1998, all parties appeared on Leeza Gibbons' talk show, Leeza, where Copeland sat silently as the adults "bickered shamelessly". As a student, Copeland had a 3.8 / 4.0 GPA through her junior year of high school . In 2000, DelaCerna stated that Copeland's earnings from ballet were set aside in a savings account and only used as needed . </P> <P> Copeland auditioned for several dance programs in 1999, and each made her an offer to enroll in its summer program . She performed with ABT as part of its 1999 and 2000 Summer Intensive programs . By the end of the first summer, she was asked to join the ABT Studio Company . Her mother insisted that she finish high school, and so Copeland returned to California for her senior year, even though ABT arranged to pay for her performances, housing accommodations and academic arrangements . She studied at the Summer Intensive Program on full scholarship for both summers and was declared ABT's National Coca - Cola Scholar in 2000 . In the 2000 Summer Intensive Program, she danced the role of Kitri in Don Quixote . Copeland's strongest memory from the summer is working with Tharp on Push Comes to Shove ". Of the 150 dancers in the 2000 Summer Intensive Program, she was one of six selected to join the junior dance troupe . </P> <P> In September 2000, she joined the ABT Studio Company, which is ABT's second company, and became a member of its Corps de ballet in 2001 . As part of the Studio Company, she performed the Pas de Deux in Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty . Eight months after joining the company, she was sidelined for nearly a year by a lumbar stress fracture . When Copeland joined the company, she weighed 108 pounds (49.0 kg) (she is 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m) tall). At age 19, her puberty had been delayed, a situation common in ballet dancers . After the lumbar fracture, her doctor told her that inducing puberty would help to strengthen her bones, and he prescribed birth control pills . Copeland recalls that in one month she gained 10 pounds, and her small breasts swelled to double D - cup size: "Leotards had to be altered for me...to cover my cleavage, for instance . I hated this sign that I was different from the others...I became so self - conscious that, for the first time in my life, I couldn't dance strong . I was too busy trying to hide my breasts ." Management noticed and called her in to talk about her body . The professional pressure to conform to conventional ballet aesthetics resulted in body image struggles and a binge eating disorder . Copeland says that, over the next year, new friendships outside of ABT, including with Victoria Rowell and her boyfriend, Olu Evans, helped her to regain confidence in her body . She explained, "My curves became an integral part of who I am as a dancer, not something I needed to lose to become one . I started dancing with confidence and joy, and soon the staff at ABT began giving me positive feedback again . And I think I changed everyone's mind about what a perfect dancer is supposed to look like ." During her years in the corps, as the only Black woman in the company, Copeland also felt the burden of her ethnicity in many ways and contemplated a variety of career choices . Recognizing that Copeland's isolation and self - doubt were standing in the way of her talent, ABT's artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, asked writer and arts figure Susan Fales - Hill, then vice-chair of ABT's Board of Directors, to mentor Copeland . Fales - Hill introduced Copeland to Black women trailblazers who encouraged Copeland and helped her to gain perspective . </P> <P> Early career reviews mentioned Copeland as more radiant than higher ranking dancers, and she was named to the 2003 class of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". In 2003, she was favorably reviewed for her roles as a member of the corps in La Bayadère and William Forsythe's workwithinwork . Recognition continued in 2004 for roles in ballets such as Raymonda, workwithinwork, Amazed in Burning Dreams, Sechs Tänze, Pillar of Fire, "Pretty Good Year", "VIII" and "Sinfonietta, where she "stood out in the pas de trois--whether she was gliding across the floor or in a full lift, she created the illusion of smoothness". She also danced the Hungarian Princess in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake . The 2004 season is regarded as her breakthrough season . She was included in the 2004 picture book by former ABT dancer Rosalie O'Connor titled Getting Closer: A Dancer's Perspective . Also in 2004, she met her biological father for the first time and regretted that she had not done so sooner . </P>

Misty copeland promoted to principal dancer at american ballet theatre