Misty Copeland is pictured this week at Chautauqua Institution. She spoke on the theme "New Profiles in Courgae." Photo by Dylan Townsend/The Chautauquan Daily

CHAUTAUQUA — Ballet found Misty Copeland at a young age, and for her the stage became a safe haven.

Copeland was born in Kansas City, Mo., and moved to Southern California where she spent the majority of her childhood. She was raised by a single mother and is one of six children.

“There was a lot of instability. I was very insecure and very introverted as a as a young girl. There wasn’t a lot of, I guess, stability and consistency in my life,” Copeland told an Amphitheater audience Tuesday at Chautauqua Institution on the theme “New Profiles in Courgae.”

Copeland said it was until dance and ballet came into her life that she felt that she was good at something, and she had a way expressing what was inside her.

“I had something to say that all came through because of movement and because of dance,” she said.

Copeland said her mother had struggled, but she never gave up and it instilled in Copeland what a strong Black woman is. The dancer said she has endured a lot of pain growing up, but dealt with the pain by being involved in the arts.

“So a lot of that hurt and pain, I channeled into strength and courage to be able to move beyond feeling ashamed of where I come from, allowing myself to use all of those experiences to share my story,” she said. “And to hopefully help other people to feel that it’s kind of boxed into this place where just because of the circumstances you grew up in, that actually dictate what your future looks like.”

And so Copeland’s journey is one knowing with the right support, one can overcome anything.

“Well, I often say that ballet discovered me. Ballet found me,” she said.

Copeland said she had no knowledge of the history of ballet, of the traditions, of the fact that it was very exclusive, especially to women of color.

“It was through a scholarship program at my local Boys and Girls Club in San Pedro, California, that a free ballet class was being offered and I took my first class on a basketball court at 13 years old,” she said.

According to assembly.chq.org, in June 2015 Copeland was promoted to principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre — making her the first Black woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history.

“And I often say the technique, the pure language of this craft is not racist. It’s not. It doesn’t exclude. It’s the most beautiful pure way of communicating that I had ever connected with. So that’s how I entered into this art form thinking this is exactly right for me. … It was the first time that I felt confidence in myself. It was the first time I felt beautiful. And a lot of that had to do with the fact that I had a teacher who supported and encouraged me and made me feel beautiful and celebrated my Blackness. It was never something that we were hiding. It was never a conversation that was avoided,” she said.

At 15, the website noted, Copeland won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. She studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive on full scholarship and was declared ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000. She joined ABT’s Studio Company in September 2000, joined ABT as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001, and in August 2007 became the company’s second Black woman soloist and the first in two decades. Among Copeland’s most notable roles are the title role in Firebird, created on her in 2012 with new choreography by much sought-after choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and the lead role of “Clara” in American Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker, also choreographed by Ratmansky. In the fall of 2014, she made history as the first Black woman to perform the lead role of “Odette/Odile” in American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake during the company’s inaugural tour to Australia. Copeland reprised the role during ABT’s Metropolitan Opera House spring season in June 2015, as well as debuted as “Juliet” in Romeo & Juliet.

She has been, the website said, honored with the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, an induction into the Boys & Girls Club National Hall of Fame, and the “Breakthrough Award” from the Council of Urban Professionals. Copeland was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in June 2013. She received the Young, Gifted & Black honor at the 2013 Black Girls Rock! Awards. In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Copeland to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. Copeland received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford in November 2014 for her contributions to classical ballet and helping to diversify the art form.

“As soon as I leave the wings and I enter the stage, there’s something so safe about that space, where you feel safe being on the stage in front of people,” Copeland said.