Misty Copeland is making history. During American Ballet Theatre’s current season at the Metropolitan Opera House, Copeland will alight on that storied Lincoln Center stage, making her New York debut as the Swan Queen in the iconic masterpiece Swan Lake—a crowning achievement for any dancer, regardless of the color of her skin. But Copeland is not just any dancer, and she knows it: “To be the first African-American woman to dance this role with American Ballet Theatre is a huge step for the ballet world,” she says, “and I take on this opportunity with tremendous care and understanding of what it means for the growth of this art form.” At 32, she is the first crossover star the ballet world has seen in decades, with a guest-judge stint on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, an Under Armour campaign that went viral, special appearances on Prince’s Welcome 2 tour, and a feature film in the works. Copeland is a member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and she recently performed at the Kennedy Center Honors—all of this while dancing at A.B.T. in repertoire ranging from Alexei Ratmansky’s Firebird to Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Suite. Her success in the almost all-white world of classical ballet has shattered biased conventions and traditions, and she has become a powerful voice for diversity as well as awareness of women’s body-image issues. In her best-selling memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, she wrote, “They came to see things my way, that my curves are part of who I am as a dancer, not something I need to lose to become one.” With her grace and grit, and the will to lead change, Misty Copeland is truly a ballerina for our time.