American Ballet Theater doesn’t typically align its seasonal galas with a company member’s farewell, but in the case of Misty Copeland, whose trailblazing career has irrevocably changed the 85-year-old institution, an exception was made. A decade ago, Copeland became the first Black woman to be named a principal at ABT and rocketed to icon status as a result. Her retirement performance at Wednesday evening’s Fall gala, unsurprisingly, drew a crowd of equal stature.
For weeks, tickets were like gold dust. Amy Sherald, Marc Jacobs, and Iman were evidently among those who lucked out. As they filled their seats at the David H. Koch Theater, another group flocked to the nearby Alice Tully Hall for a simulcast made possible by ABT Rise, an in-house initiative focused on inclusion. This was a night for the people’s artist, prompting Oprah herself to answer the call to serve as the honorary grand co-chair. “I never say yes,” she told the audience to laughter. But “once in a generation, someone comes along who doesn’t just master their craft— they shift the very atmosphere around it.”
Copeland’s performance wasn’t only her swan song for ABT, which she joined in 2001. It was also her first in five years: a pause drawn out by the pandemic, the birth of her son, and still-lingering injuries. In recent months she dove back into rigorous training, including a return to pointe shoes, collaborating with the company’s artistic director Susan Jaffe on a program that reflected her stylistic breadth and career-shaping roles.
The swirl of emotions that Wednesday brought was inevitable. “It was a terrible idea to do the step-and-repeat before the show because I cried through every interview,” Copeland told Vogue. “When they asked, ‘What are you wearing?’ I was like, ‘Carolina Herrera!’” she said, mocking a dramatic blubber.
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