From WHYY in Philadelphia, this is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Sam Brigger in For Terry Gross.

Today, Misty Copeland talks about how she became the first African-American ballerina

to be a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. Even though there were times she was

told her body wasn't right for ballet. I was told my breasts are too large, my muscles are too big,

I'm too short. And she'll talk about touring with prints. They became friends and their conversations

helped change her mindset. It was always kind of, I'm alone, I'm isolated, there's no one in

this company who looks like me and he would say, well that's incredible, you have this power.

Also actor Michael Imperiali, he stars in the second season of the HBO series The White Lotus.

Imperiali is best known for another HBO series, The Sopranos. He played Christopher, the young gangster

with anger and impulse control issues. What do you got to say now? This is Fresh Air Weekend.

I'm Sam Brigger in For Terry Gross. Terry has today's first interview, here she is.

My guest Misty Copeland became the first African-American woman to become a principal dancer

with the American Ballet Theatre, America's National Ballet Company. That was in 2015,

the same year the company celebrated its 75th year. She was the only black woman in the company

for the first 10 years of her career. Among the principal role she danced was the title role of

the Firebird, the Stravinsky Ballet, and the dual role of the Swan Queen and the Black Swan in

Swan Lake. Her new memoir is about the pride and pressures of being a first in a world she describes

as refusing to see black people as equals, capable of succeeding in traditionally quote European art

forms. Her skin color, her body, her hair didn't conform to what ballerinas were supposed to look

like. She was told many times to give up ballet and pursue modern dance instead, but she became a ballet

star and a star outside of ballet. She danced in performance with Prince on his welcome to America

tour and danced on Broadway in the revival of On the Town. For her performances and for her work

...