--- title: Ballerina Misty Copeland Performs on Stephen Colbert: Video description: Misty Copeland and Yo Yo Ma perform on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert canonical: https://time.com/4062685/misty-copeland-yo-yo-ma-late-show/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-06T14:49:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:50.631Z og:title: Ballerina Misty Copeland Performs on Stephen Colbert: Video og:description: Misty Copeland and Yo Yo Ma perform on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert og:url: https://time.com/4062685/misty-copeland-yo-yo-ma-late-show/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ballerina Misty Copeland Performs on Stephen Colbert: Video twitter:description: Misty Copeland and Yo Yo Ma perform on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Misty Copeland and Yo-Yo Ma Perform on _The Late Show With Stephen Colbert_ > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e5f452de-022c-47a2-b2b2-6f7d41cd61a2&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Misty Copeland On Changing the Face of Ballet [Watch (HLS stream): Misty Copeland On Changing the Face of Ballet](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hwcdTt33.m3u8) (2:34)  _Published 2015-04-16. "I never thought I could make a career out of something I enjoyed doing something I was passionate about, something that gave me a voice," says Copeland, who is one of the first African Americans to be a soloist with American Ballet Theatre._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 6, 2015 2:49 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 6, 2015 2:49 PM UTC On _The Late Show With Stephen Colbert_ Monday night, American Ballet Theatre’s first black principal ballerina Misty Copeland performed the courante from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 with legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The classical musician is turning 60 Wednesday, while the dancer has been promoting a documentary about her life, _A Ballerina’s Tale,_ which comes out Oct. 14. Yo-Yo Ma also performed “The Swan” by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns and George Gershwin’s “Prelude No. 1” with Colbert’s band, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, in two web exclusive videos: ### Go Behind the Scenes of TIME 100's Cover Photo Shoots  Elon Musk on Kanye West: "Kanye’s been playing the long game all along, and we’re only just beginning to see why." Sebastian Kim for TIME  Portrait of musician Kanye West photographed at Milk Studios in Los Angeles, California for time on march 18th, 2015. Sebastian Kim for TIME  Antonin Scalia on Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "I can attest that her opinions are always thoroughly considered, always carefully crafted and almost always correct (which is to say we sometimes disagree)." Sebastian Kim for TIME  Portrait of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg photographed on Tuesday, March 17th, 2015 at the Supreme Court East Conference Room in Washington D.C. for TIME. Sebastian Kim for TIME  Portrait of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg photographed on Tuesday, March 17th, 2015 at the Supreme Court East Conference Room in Washington D.C. for TIME. Sebastian Kim for TIME  Oliver Platt on Bradley Cooper: "It’s hard to make people, especially your friends, forget who you are onscreen. " Sebastian Kim for TIME  Portrait of actor Bradley Cooper photographed on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at the TIME Magazine Studio in New York, NY. Sebastian Kim for TIME  Nadia Comaneci on Misty Copeland: "It doesn’t matter where you’re from. If you have the passion like Misty, you can be the best at what you do." Sebastian Kim for TIME  Portrait of author, entertainer, and American ballet dancer Misty Copeland photographed for Time on February 24th, 2015 at the American Ballet Theater in New York. Sebastian Kim for TIME  Photograph of author, entertainer, and American ballet dancer Misty Copeland photographed for Time on February 24th, 2015 at the American Ballet Theater in New York. Sebastian Kim for TIME  Christiane Amanpour on Jorge Ramos: "He knows he has a voice and is not afraid to use it. He shouts from every rooftop that Hispanic rights are human rights." Sebastian Kim for TIME  Portrait of Mexican- American journalist and author Jorge Ramos photographed on Thursday, March 19, 2015 in Doral, Florida. Sebastian Kim for TIME ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The way that dance came into my life was very unexpected. I was 13 years old living in a motel with my single parent, my mother, and five of my siblings. I never thought I could make a career out of something I enjoyed doing, something I was passionate about, something that gave me a voice. There's just been a, a whole slew of African- American -. Women who have just really pushed me and motivated me during those times that I didn't know if I could do it. Raven Wilkinson, one of the first African American ballerinas to dance in a major ballet company. It's important for me to set an example of what a healthy image is. What a ballerina can be. That she doesn't have to be a white woman, that's rail thin [ LAUGH ]. That she can, she can look like the world and I think that's what American Ballet Theater also helps to represent is what American's look like, and that dreams are possible here and that you really can. Push yourself to become anything with the right work ethic and support around you. [ MUSIC ] I hope to see more diversity on the stage when I'm 60 years old. Watching in the audience. I hope the audience is more diverse. I think that's why people go to see performances. They want to see something beautiful but they also want to seem themselves up there. They want to be able to dream of what maybe they dream about doing. You know, going up there and dancing but it's hard to envision that when. And you don't see yourself represented up there. I would want a younger child looking at me on the cover, to see themselves. To see endless opportunities, to see possibilities that maybe they never even thought were something that they could attain. I want them to be able to see. Treams through me. 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