Misty Copeland was born on September 10, 1982 in Kansas city Missouri. She is one of the most renown ballet dancers in the ballet world. She didn’t actually start any dance or gymnastics until she was 13. Most people, when she started to become famous, didn’t think she was the correct type of person for the dance business. This was because she was curvy and African-American. But she has proved them wrong on so many levels. In 2000, Copeland joined the company of American Ballet Theater. A few years after she became an amazing soloists and she has starred in the Nutcracker and Firebird and many more amazing productions. Misty Copeland is the 4th of 6 kids, all with a generally mixed ethnic heritage. Her mother is Sylvia Delacerna. She has had multiple marriages and boyfriends, causing the family to pack up and move many times. Copeland and her siblings eventually settled in San Pedro, California. Delacerna's relationship with her fourth husband was tumultuous: he was emotionally and physically abusive to his stepchildren and wife and would refer to them using racial slurs