Misty Copeland's next leap: Giving us all better bodies

(24 Mar 2017) MISTY COPELAND'S NEXT LEAP: GIVING US ALL BETTER BODIES
If you've ever binged on a box of doughnuts - yep, the whole blessed thing - ballerina Misty Copeland can relate. She's done it too, lots.
No, really.
"I used to bury my hurt in a box of Krispy Kremes," the dancer says in her new book, "Ballerina Body," in which she aims to set us on the right path to better bodies - if not quite one like hers, then the best bodies we can have.
Which, she says, is enough, because recognizing that your own body is perfect for you and just needs fine-tuning - something it took her years to realize herself - is the first big step.
But before she got there, there was plenty of self-hatred, something we can all relate to.
"Every woman struggles with their body at some point in their life, especially as a dancer," Copeland said in a recent interview.
"You go through training your entire childhood and then going through puberty and then kind of starting from scratch with this new body that's unfamiliar. With that aside, I've have been approached about what I eat, what other forms of exercise I do outside of ballet class, how do I mentally and emotionally stay strong in a field like this. So I felt like I need to write about this and put this all in one place."
She also wanted to educate those who don't realize the hard work that goes into the seemingly effortless performances on stage.
Copeland's typical day can sometimes involve 12 hours of training, rehearsals and performance.
"Just kind of debunking and getting rid of all these awful stereotypes that are attributed to ballerinas, you know having eating disorders and not really being athletes and not having the strength to go out there. You know we just go up there, put a tutu on and twirl around and I feel like so much a part of what I do through all these incredible platforms I have like Under Armour, is showing the strength and athleticism that it takes to be a dancer and that we work just as hard as athletes."
Copeland is now not only one of the most famous ballerinas in the world, but has crossed over into mainstream pop culture fame like no other.
Her best-selling book, "Life in Motion," was a memoir, but in her new book she seeks to impart some of the wisdom that helped her along the way. She includes detailed exercises - classic ballet moves, starting on the floor - and also meal plans and favorite recipes.
She hopes it inspires a healthier attitude towards body image.
"You know, every dancer goes through ups and downs in terms of being out of shape and having off seasons and our bodies changing and just figuring out how to fuel our body, like treating our bodies like an instrument and that's such a huge part of it, just finding a balance and again, not depriving yourself of things that you enjoy because I think that's just waiting to go down this deep, dark hole when you say like, 'Oh I can't have carbs and I can't have sweets.' At some point you're going to want it and you're going to go overboard," she says.
"So, I feel like in 'Ballerina Body' we're really creating a meal plan and an exercise plan that's realistic, something that I've experienced through trial and error but still allowing myself to have things that I enjoy in moderation."
The first black female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, the star has high hopes for a more diverse future for the ballet world she dances in.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...