Gabriella Gladney

Reporting fellow

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On Wednesday, Misty Copeland will perform her final show as a professional ballerina after 25 years with American Ballet Theatre. The farewell performance at ABT’s Fall Gala also marks her return to the stage after a five-year hiatus.

Copeland’s retirement comes 10 years after her historic promotion to principal dancer in 2015, becoming the first Black woman in ABT’s 75-year history at the time to hold that title. Her ascent was heralded as a turning point for ballet, a sign that one of the world’s most tradition-bound art forms might finally be opening its doors to a more diverse generation of dancers.

But a decade later, there has yet to be another Black woman principal at ABT. As Copeland, 43,

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