Under the bright lights of the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, Misty Copeland took her final bow, a moment that marked not just the end of a performance but the close of a chapter that transformed American ballet. The trailblazing dancer, who shattered racial barriers in the art form, retired on Wednesday as a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre after 25 years with the company.

But she told "CBS Mornings" in an exclusive interview that the decision to perform one last time wasn't something she initially wanted.

"It's been such an interesting kind of lead up to this moment, because I in all honesty I didn't wanna come back to the stage and have this moment," she told Gayle King.

When asked why, Copeland explained that by 2019, her last year performing with the

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