They did appear to be dating at the time but I suppose it was just promotion for the W2A shows. Prince seemed interested in her for a little while. I think they would have made an attractive couple.

pinkcashmere23 said:

Krystalkisses said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

They did appear to be dating at the time but I suppose it was just promotion for the W2A shows. Prince seemed interested in her for a little while. I think they would have made an attractive couple.

I'm sure he had a crush on her. I mean what man wouldn't?

True! Dr. Funk said in one of his podcasts that she and Bria were the inspirations for "Gingerbread Man" and that Misty inspired "U Will B"

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Prince WOULD NOT be happy about this! First Janelle turning into a raunchy, pansexual, sex pot and now Misty on the stripper pole! But she looks HOT!

hey,she's got bills to pay.Prince was a multi-millionaire,but his proteges/girlfriends aren't !

..

[Edited 12/11/18 14:32pm]

rogifan said:

Most people grow up...unless their name is Madonna. :lol

Grace Jones is now 70 and has done concerts this year topless or with bodypaint. What's with the ageism? If that's what they want to do, and people pay to see them, then it's not a big deal. You sound like Grace Slick saying rock n roll should have an age limit like pro sports and people over 50 shouldn't do it. I also notice people tend to have more of a problem with how older female performers dress than guys like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy Pop, Melle Mel, or KISS. Here's some Keith

MickyDolenz said:

rogifan said:

Most people grow up...unless their name is Madonna. :lol

Grace Jones is now 70 and has done concerts this year topless or with bodypaint. What's with the ageism? If that's what they want to do, and people pay to see them, then it's not a big deal. You sound like Grace Slick saying rock n roll should have an age limit like pro sports and people over 50 shouldn't do it. I also notice people tend to have more of a problem with how older female performers dress than guys like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy Pop, Melle Mel, or KISS. Here's some Keith

I saw Keith on the cover of Rolling Stones today and I just shook my head. Why couldn't that have been Prince and not Keith?

[Edited 12/11/18 19:25pm]

As the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is a historical figure. As such she is a role model for countless young Black girls. Thus, I wish she had rebuffed the offer to dignifiy the Pirelli calendar's offensive and "reductive" fantasy of her as a stripper. The assessment of the article linked in the OP is right on point.

We can’t help but feel a way that the sole black woman in Pirelli’s 2019 cast—currently the world’s best-known black dancer of any genre—moonlights as a stripper in Watson’s narrative. Frankly, it feels reductive as hell; even Vogue’s description of Copeland’s role seems oversimplified next to those of her co-stars (whose roles as seemingly unfulfilled women feel equally reductive, tbh).

But to be clear, our issue isn’t with the concept of stripping or even Copeland’s Flashdance-style narrative; it’s admittedly an interesting character arc for the accomplished ballerina. Instead, what’s striking is that a year after being lauded for debunking traditional narratives with perhaps the most visionary (and frankly, gorgeous) calendar in its history, Pirelli seems to have regressed by only casting a single woman who presents as of color for this edition (designer Alexander Wang also makes an appearance, and Copeland is paired with fellow American Ballet Theatre dancer Calvin Royal III for her plotline).

Furthermore, by portraying the sole black woman in the cast in this context with only white-presenting narratives as counterpoint, Pirelli and Watson are (likely unwittingly) trafficking in age-old stereotypes of the black female body as hypersexualized and the black woman as dependent upon the commodification of her body to get ahead in the world.

It’s disappointing, to say the least.

[Edited 12/11/18 19:17pm]

minnesoundlvr said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

um Prince? how about her husband? Prince and Misty were never romantic, so why should she care in this respect. It's art.

Cute pic of she and her husband.

ChocolateBox3121 said:

S2DG said:

New goal in life -------> raunchy, pansexual, sex pot

That should ALWAYS be saved for BEHIND closed doors. NOONE should know what U prefer in the bedroom except U and your partner.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said:

As the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is a historical figure. As such she is a role model for countless young Black girls. Thus, I wish she had rebuffed the offer to dignifiy the Pirelli calendar's offensive and "reductive" fantasy of her as a stripper. The assessment of the article linked in the OP is right on point.

[Edited 12/11/18 19:06pm]

I agree. And does anyone look at these pictures of Misty and not see sadness in her face? I see sadness. You don’t have to have an ultra vivid imagination to know the faces you are looking at while pole dancing are going to be some sketchy and down right creepy faces. That view might color your world view very negatively. Pole dancing as a profession is not something to aspire to for most women anyway and I have to wonder if they were using a white ballet dancer would she have ended up on a pole? Unless there’s some kind of satire or provocative message I’m missing here I think this was beyond insensitive.

I highly doubt it. They will probably never admit it, but race (and racism) was definitely a determinant.

minnesoundlvr said:

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said:

I highly doubt it. They will probably never admit it, but race (and racism) was definitely a determinant.

Can’t admit to something you have no idea you are doing. I bet the photographer is clueless about his racism just like above where someone made the sexist remark of “Misty was presenting her vagina to Prince”. WTF?? Does anyone here think Prince would have told her to spread her legs and offer her vagina to him and she’d go along with that? Yikes, I think Misty was dancing for him, interpreting the song, and showcasing her phenomenal range of motion which just so happened to include the leg spread. But she had on clothes, she’s not naked, this is not an intimate setting so why would she be offering her vagina to him? As some kind of payment for what’s happening in the song or even for him “allowing” her to share his stage? That a woman is there as a equal performer and interpreter or Maybe even was allowing him to share HER stage is unthinkable to the sexists. I bet he reached out to her because she was the IT girl, she was everywhere for a while and he needed the lift in TV advertising.

Actually you have that completely wrong !!!...

Prince was working with Misty well before her appointment as principle Ballerina in 2015

in fact it was 6 years before :she appeared in Crimson and CLover in 2009 as a relative unknown

It could be argued that her association with Prince helped her career..

In fact she credits Prince with giving her confidence...

so NO...

he didnt need the lift..

he GAVE her one...

[Edited 12/11/18 23:03pm]

[Edited 12/11/18 23:13pm]

Lovejunky said:

Lovejunky said:

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said:

I highly doubt it. They will probably never admit it, but race (and racism) was definitely a determinant.

Can’t admit to something you have no idea you are doing. I bet the photographer is clueless about his racism just like above where someone made the sexist remark of “Misty was presenting her vagina to Prince”. WTF?? Does anyone here think Prince would have told her to spread her legs and offer her vagina to him and she’d go along with that? Yikes, I think Misty was dancing for him, interpreting the song, and showcasing her phenomenal range of motion which just so happened to include the leg spread. But she had on clothes, she’s not naked, this is not an intimate setting so why would she be offering her vagina to him? As some kind of payment for what’s happening in the song or even for him “allowing” her to share his stage? That a woman is there as a equal performer and interpreter or Maybe even was allowing him to share HER stage is unthinkable to the sexists. I bet he reached out to her because she was the IT girl, she was everywhere for a while and he needed the lift in TV advertising.

Lovejunky said:

Actually you have that completely wrong !!!...

Prince was working with Misty well before her appointment as principle Ballerina in 2015

in fact it was 6 years before :she appeared in Crimson and CLover in 2009 as a relative unknown

It could be argued that her association with Prince helped her career..

In fact she credits Prince with giving her confidence...

so NO...

he didnt need the lift..

he GAVE her one...

muchtoofast said

I totally did not mean this as a slam to Prince, I just wanted to point out the fact that Misty and every other woman on this planet is not beholden to and doesn’t owe a man any vagina just because he may have been nice to her. I don’t want to read any woman being reduced to just a vagina and that is what I got from an above comment. Just “why the heck would she be offering up her vagina???”

Even women with uber talents are reduced to only what sexually satisfies a man and it pisses me off.

Im referring to the Comment that I bolded,

where you suggest that Prince used Misty for his own purposes !!!!

Why are you only addressing the parts I have not contested ?

Lovejunky said:

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said: Can’t admit to something you have no idea you are doing. I bet the photographer is clueless about his racism just like above where someone made the sexist remark of “Misty was presenting her vagina to Prince”. WTF?? Does anyone here think Prince would have told her to spread her legs and offer her vagina to him and she’d go along with that? Yikes, I think Misty was dancing for him, interpreting the song, and showcasing her phenomenal range of motion which just so happened to include the leg spread. But she had on clothes, she’s not naked, this is not an intimate setting so why would she be offering her vagina to him? As some kind of payment for what’s happening in the song or even for him “allowing” her to share his stage? That a woman is there as a equal performer and interpreter or Maybe even was allowing him to share HER stage is unthinkable to the sexists. I bet he reached out to her because she was the IT girl, she was everywhere for a while and he needed the lift in TV advertising.

Actually you have that completely wrong !!!...

Prince was working with Misty well before her appointment as principle Ballerina in 2015

in fact it was 6 years before :she appeared in Crimson and CLover in 2009 as a relative unknown

It could be argued that her association with Prince helped her career..

In fact she credits Prince with giving her confidence...

so NO...

he didnt need the lift..

he GAVE her one...

[Edited 12/11/18 23:03pm]

[Edited 12/11/18 23:13pm]

When did she work with Prince in 2015?

I thought she worked with Prince on the 2009 Crimson & Clover video, did a few photos for the Welcome 2 tour and 2011 Winter-early Spring leg of the Welcome 2 America shows

and I agree, he gave her a bigger spotlight

http://latimesblogs.latim...ancer.html

"I got a random call one day from someone asking if it was OK to pass along my phone number to him," Copeland said. "When we spoke, he just told me he was a huge fan of mine, and he really wanted me to be in his music video. I asked him how he knew about me, and he was kind of brief about it, but just kind of said [that] word gets around. ... It was very inspiring."

Just days after the call in early March, Prince flew Copeland to Los Angeles for the shoot. "I was only in L.A. for two days, and we shot the video in probably two hours, and the next morning I got back on the plane and went back to New York," Copeland said. The video, she added, is "not at all what I expected, but I love it. I think it’s really cool; it’s just amazing to be a part of something with someone who is such a legend and someone I grew up listening to."

She added that the Artist Usually Known As Odd is actually a very nice person. "He’s such great person, very giving, great guy," she says. "He was very, very sweet and down to earth, and it was such an honor just to work with him."

“I wouldn’t be in this place in my career had I not met him,” Copeland tells PEOPLE at the launch of the new Misty Copeland Barbie. “[Had I not] been influenced by him and experienced being on stage with him.”

Today, Copeland credits Prince’s influence and guidance in helping her to evolve as an artist in a way that in the world of professional ballet, she hadn’t yet experienced.

“He pushed me as an artist in ways I hadn’t been before,” she said. “In ways that the ballet world doesn’t particularly invite.”

Copeland and Prince collaborated multiple times throughout their careers. She appeared in his 2009 music video for “Crimson and Clover” and danced during a rendition of “The Beautiful Ones” on Lopez Tonight in 2011. Later that year, she danced alongside him on his European tour.

“He allowed me to be me on the stage, and explore,” she says. “I feel like that’s really when I started to blossom as an artist.”

Copeland says that the lessons Prince taught her were essential in carving out her own name back at ABT.

“I was able to take all those tools back with me to ABT and use them in a different structure and a different environment, but feel that I had that freedom internally to become the artist I want to be.”

Prince was a “huge part” of the ballet community, Copeland says, donating to ABT and a number dance schools that hold a special place in her heart.

https://people.com/celebr...rs-prince/

pinkcashmere23 said:

They did appear to be dating at the time but I suppose it was just promotion for the W2A shows. Prince seemed interested in her for a little while. I think they would have made an attractive couple.

It was just the January - May leg of the 2011 Welcome 2 America shows.

she was dating her current husband Olu Evans, in 2010 and Prince was seeing Bria Valente

Misty and Bria both married.

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said:

As the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is a historical figure. As such she is a role model for countless young Black girls. Thus, I wish she had rebuffed the offer to dignifiy the Pirelli calendar's offensive and "reductive" fantasy of her as a stripper. The assessment of the article linked in the OP is right on point.

[Edited 12/11/18 19:06pm]

I agree. And does anyone look at these pictures of Misty and not see sadness in her face? I see sadness. You don’t have to have an ultra vivid imagination to know the faces you are looking at while pole dancing are going to be some sketchy and down right creepy faces. That view might color your world view very negatively. Pole dancing as a profession is not something to aspire to for most women anyway and I have to wonder if they were using a white ballet dancer would she have ended up on a pole? Unless there’s some kind of satire or provocative message I’m missing here I think this was beyond insensitive.

Well she is playing a part. And a lot of women when doing those jobs may have some sadness. She she acted the part in the photos well. If she was smiling like a summer day, people would say she was misrepresenting the job or something by making it seem happy.

Misty chose to do this. She was not forced. She is a free agent. No one made her, so she isn't sad like some female chatel.

“Each character has a part to play in the 2019 Pirelli Calendar,” Watson explained. “In some cases, the role was close to what the actress does for a living, but here they were certainly all acting a part. Not themselves. And that’s what I wanted.”

Photographed by Albert Watson/ 2019 Pirelli Calendar

Copeland and ballet dancer Calvin Royal III play dancers who are dreaming of performing in Paris and she showed off a few of her professional moves in the photos. “She is looking to the future and has ambitions,” said Watson. “Trying to be successful is her driving force.”

Photographed by Albert Watson/ 2019 Pirelli Calendar

https://people.com/style/2019-pirelli-calendar-gigi-hadid-misty-copeland/

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said:

I highly doubt it. They will probably never admit it, but race (and racism) was definitely a determinant.

Can’t admit to something you have no idea you are doing. I bet the photographer is clueless about his racism just like above where someone made the sexist remark of “Misty was presenting her vagina to Prince”. WTF?? Does anyone here think Prince would have told her to spread her legs and offer her vagina to him and she’d go along with that? Yikes, I think Misty was dancing for him, interpreting the song, and showcasing her phenomenal range of motion which just so happened to include the leg spread. But she had on clothes, she’s not naked, this is not an intimate setting so why would she be offering her vagina to him? As some kind of payment for what’s happening in the song or even for him “allowing” her to share his stage? That a woman is there as a equal performer and interpreter or Maybe even was allowing him to share HER stage is unthinkable to the sexists. I bet he reached out to her because she was the IT girl, she was everywhere for a while and he needed the lift in TV advertising.

What do you see when you look at the picture? The straightness of Prince mic in direct procision with her groin area?

.

Prince has never stopped adding little sexual things to his shows. This is the same man that put the mic between his legs while Cat kneeled in front of him seeing her line to Head.

This is also the Prince that has always presented his microphone and guitar as a phallic symbols, and did it on the Super Bowl performance when the sheet came up.

.

Come on let's stop being prudish about this stuff.

.

Prince was inspired/turned on by the movie Black Swan and then got Misty to do these shows with him.

OldFriends4Sale said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

They did appear to be dating at the time but I suppose it was just promotion for the W2A shows. Prince seemed interested in her for a little while. I think they would have made an attractive couple.

It was just the January - May leg of the 2011 Welcome 2 America shows.

she was dating her current husband Olu Evans, in 2010 and Prince was seeing Bria Valente

Misty and Bria both married.

Yes,at the time we were not aware of her boyfriend but there were rumors in late 2010 and early 2011 that she was involved with someone. I recall several threads were made about Prince and Misty being romantically involved due to her escorting him to those functions. Prince seemed to be single at that time and she was the only woman he was seen with, until the photos of him with Andy taken in Montréal. That put the rumors about he and Misty to rest and people focused on the next girl.

How much responsibility does an art form have to reflect the world and send positive messages about race or gender?

Misty Copeland:
“I think it’s extremely important,” says Copeland. “Especially with ballet, if we don’t open ourselves up and evolve with the times, we’re not going to be relevant and people aren’t going to be interested in coming. I understand becoming a character, and that not every time you step on stage has to be some amazing political statement, but I also think we have so much room in classical dance to grow.”

OldFriends4Sale said:

Lovejunky said:

Actually you have that completely wrong !!!...

Prince was working with Misty well before her appointment as principle Ballerina in 2015

in fact it was 6 years before :she appeared in Crimson and CLover in 2009 as a relative unknown

It could be argued that her association with Prince helped her career..

In fact she credits Prince with giving her confidence...

so NO...

he didnt need the lift..

he GAVE her one...

[Edited 12/11/18 23:03pm]

[Edited 12/11/18 23:13pm]

When did she work with Prince in 2015?

I thought she worked with Prince on the 2009 Crimson & Clover video, did a few photos for the Welcome 2 tour and 2011 Winter-early Spring leg of the Welcome 2 America shows

and I agree, he gave her a bigger spotlight

http://latimesblogs.latim...ancer.html

"I got a random call one day from someone asking if it was OK to pass along my phone number to him," Copeland said. "When we spoke, he just told me he was a huge fan of mine, and he really wanted me to be in his music video. I asked him how he knew about me, and he was kind of brief about it, but just kind of said [that] word gets around. ... It was very inspiring."

Just days after the call in early March, Prince flew Copeland to Los Angeles for the shoot. "I was only in L.A. for two days, and we shot the video in probably two hours, and the next morning I got back on the plane and went back to New York," Copeland said. The video, she added, is "not at all what I expected, but I love it. I think it’s really cool; it’s just amazing to be a part of something with someone who is such a legend and someone I grew up listening to."

She added that the Artist Usually Known As Odd is actually a very nice person. "He’s such great person, very giving, great guy," she says. "He was very, very sweet and down to earth, and it was such an honor just to work with him."

“I wouldn’t be in this place in my career had I not met him,” Copeland tells PEOPLE at the launch of the new Misty Copeland Barbie. “[Had I not] been influenced by him and experienced being on stage with him.”

Today, Copeland credits Prince’s influence and guidance in helping her to evolve as an artist in a way that in the world of professional ballet, she hadn’t yet experienced.

“He pushed me as an artist in ways I hadn’t been before,” she said. “In ways that the ballet world doesn’t particularly invite.”

Copeland and Prince collaborated multiple times throughout their careers. She appeared in his 2009 music video for “Crimson and Clover” and danced during a rendition of “The Beautiful Ones” on Lopez Tonight in 2011. Later that year, she danced alongside him on his European tour.

“He allowed me to be me on the stage, and explore,” she says. “I feel like that’s really when I started to blossom as an artist.”

Copeland says that the lessons Prince taught her were essential in carving out her own name back at ABT.

“I was able to take all those tools back with me to ABT and use them in a different structure and a different environment, but feel that I had that freedom internally to become the artist I want to be.”

Prince was a “huge part” of the ballet community, Copeland says, donating to ABT and a number dance schools that hold a special place in her heart.

https://people.com/celebr...rs-prince/

Very nice what she said about Prince. It sounds like they were very close friends. I think the "Crimson & Clover" video is gorgeous and their performance for the George Lopez performance of "TBOs" is one of my favorites. I seem to recall that she danced for a few of the shows in Europe in 2010 as well. I saw that he tweeted about her in 2015. The link wasn't accessible but it seemed to be in regard to her promotion.

[Edited 12/12/18 7:18am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

muchtoofast said:

minnesoundlvr said: I agree. And does anyone look at these pictures of Misty and not see sadness in her face? I see sadness. You don’t have to have an ultra vivid imagination to know the faces you are looking at while pole dancing are going to be some sketchy and down right creepy faces. That view might color your world view very negatively. Pole dancing as a profession is not something to aspire to for most women anyway and I have to wonder if they were using a white ballet dancer would she have ended up on a pole? Unless there’s some kind of satire or provocative message I’m missing here I think this was beyond insensitive.

Well she is playing a part. And a lot of women when doing those jobs may have some sadness. She she acted the part in the photos well. If she was smiling like a summer day, people would say she was misrepresenting the job or something by making it seem happy.

Misty chose to do this. She was not forced. She is a free agent. No one made her, so she isn't sad like some female chatel.

“Each character has a part to play in the 2019 Pirelli Calendar,” Watson explained. “In some cases, the role was close to what the actress does for a living, but here they were certainly all acting a part. Not themselves. And that’s what I wanted.”

Photographed by Albert Watson/ 2019 Pirelli Calendar

Copeland and ballet dancer Calvin Royal III play dancers who are dreaming of performing in Paris and she showed off a few of her professional moves in the photos. “She is looking to the future and has ambitions,” said Watson. “Trying to be successful is her driving force.”

Photographed by Albert Watson/ 2019 Pirelli Calendar

https://people.com/style/2019-pirelli-calendar-gigi-hadid-misty-copeland/

It was indeed Misty's choice. I am of the opinion that it was an unfortunate one.

minnesoundlvr said:

It was indeed Misty's choice. I am of the opinion that it was an unfortunate one.

Why?

PennyPurple said:

minnesoundlvr said:

It was indeed Misty's choice. I am of the opinion that it was an unfortunate one.

Why?

she didn't make a move for the 'woke' cause

People judging others for sexism and racism while trying to control someones choices in life.
Are we ever free?

.

Everything has to be for the people. Even Janet said for her 3rd album Janet, 'come on, I still do the socially conscious songs, but I'm a woman too' after people started judging her for showing skin and getting more sexual.

.

pinkcashmere23 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

When did she work with Prince in 2015?

I thought she worked with Prince on the 2009 Crimson & Clover video, did a few photos for the Welcome 2 tour and 2011 Winter-early Spring leg of the Welcome 2 America shows

and I agree, he gave her a bigger spotlight

http://latimesblogs.latim...ancer.html

"I got a random call one day from someone asking if it was OK to pass along my phone number to him," Copeland said. "When we spoke, he just told me he was a huge fan of mine, and he really wanted me to be in his music video. I asked him how he knew about me, and he was kind of brief about it, but just kind of said [that] word gets around. ... It was very inspiring."

Just days after the call in early March, Prince flew Copeland to Los Angeles for the shoot. "I was only in L.A. for two days, and we shot the video in probably two hours, and the next morning I got back on the plane and went back to New York," Copeland said. The video, she added, is "not at all what I expected, but I love it. I think it’s really cool; it’s just amazing to be a part of something with someone who is such a legend and someone I grew up listening to."

She added that the Artist Usually Known As Odd is actually a very nice person. "He’s such great person, very giving, great guy," she says. "He was very, very sweet and down to earth, and it was such an honor just to work with him."

“I wouldn’t be in this place in my career had I not met him,” Copeland tells PEOPLE at the launch of the new Misty Copeland Barbie. “[Had I not] been influenced by him and experienced being on stage with him.”

Today, Copeland credits Prince’s influence and guidance in helping her to evolve as an artist in a way that in the world of professional ballet, she hadn’t yet experienced.

“He pushed me as an artist in ways I hadn’t been before,” she said. “In ways that the ballet world doesn’t particularly invite.”

Copeland and Prince collaborated multiple times throughout their careers. She appeared in his 2009 music video for “Crimson and Clover” and danced during a rendition of “The Beautiful Ones” on Lopez Tonight in 2011. Later that year, she danced alongside him on his European tour.

“He allowed me to be me on the stage, and explore,” she says. “I feel like that’s really when I started to blossom as an artist.”

Copeland says that the lessons Prince taught her were essential in carving out her own name back at ABT.

“I was able to take all those tools back with me to ABT and use them in a different structure and a different environment, but feel that I had that freedom internally to become the artist I want to be.”

Prince was a “huge part” of the ballet community, Copeland says, donating to ABT and a number dance schools that hold a special place in her heart.

https://people.com/celebr...rs-prince/

Very nice what she said about Prince. It sounds like they were very close friends. I think the "Crimson & Clover" video is gorgeous and their performance for the George Lopez performance of "TBOs" is one of my favorites. I seem to recall that she danced for a few of the shows in Europe in 2010 as well. I saw that he tweeted about her in 2015. The link wasn't accessible but it seemed to be in regard to her promotion.

[Edited 12/12/18 7:18am]

Yes, I'm sorry, she started at the beginning of the Welcome 2 America tour which started mid December 2010.

Yeah I saw a site that had 2015 as the year she danced with Prince on the Welcome 2 America tour. I'm going to send a note of correction.

OldFriends4Sale said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Very nice what she said about Prince. It sounds like they were very close friends. I think the "Crimson & Clover" video is gorgeous and their performance for the George Lopez performance of "TBOs" is one of my favorites. I seem to recall that she danced for a few of the shows in Europe in 2010 as well. I saw that he tweeted about her in 2015. The link wasn't accessible but it seemed to be in regard to her promotion.

[Edited 12/12/18 7:18am]

Yes, I'm sorry, she started at the beginning of the Welcome 2 America tour which started mid December 2010.

Yeah I saw a site that had 2015 as the year she danced with Prince on the Welcome 2 America tour. I'm going to send a note of correction.

Oh okay. Did she dance for a few shows in Europe late summer/early fall of 2010? Because I seem to remember that. I saw on Prince Vault that she was a guest at the show in Nice on July 25th, 2010. That was what I was thinking of. She started the W2A shows on December 15th,2010 at the Izod Center in NJ.

[Edited 12/12/18 8:01am]

PennyPurple said:

minnesoundlvr said:

It was indeed Misty's choice. I am of the opinion that it was an unfortunate one.

Why?

Please refer to my initial comment on this thread (Reply #66) expressing MY opinion (and that of the OP article) on this matter. For your convenience, I have copied and pasted it below.

As the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is a historical figure. As such she is a role model for countless young Black girls. Thus, I wish she had rebuffed the offer to dignifiy the Pirelli calendar's offensive and "reductive" fantasy of her as a stripper. The assessment of the article linked in the OP is right on point.

We can’t help but feel a way that the sole black woman in Pirelli’s 2019 cast—currently the world’s best-known black dancer of any genre—moonlights as a stripper in Watson’s narrative. Frankly, it feels reductive as hell; even Vogue’s description of Copeland’s role seems oversimplified next to those of her co-stars (whose roles as seemingly unfulfilled women feel equally reductive, tbh).

But to be clear, our issue isn’t with the concept of stripping or even Copeland’s Flashdance-style narrative; it’s admittedly an interesting character arc for the accomplished ballerina. Instead, what’s striking is that a year after being lauded for debunking traditional narratives with perhaps the most visionary (and frankly, gorgeous) calendar in its history, Pirelli seems to have regressed by only casting a single woman who presents as of color for this edition (designer Alexander Wang also makes an appearance, and Copeland is paired with fellow American Ballet Theatre dancer Calvin Royal III for her plotline).

Furthermore, by portraying the sole black woman in the cast in this context with only white-presenting narratives as counterpoint, Pirelli and Watson are (likely unwittingly) trafficking in age-old stereotypes of the black female body as hypersexualized and the black woman as dependent upon the commodification of her body to get ahead in the world.

It’s disappointing, to say the least.

pinkcashmere23 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, I'm sorry, she started at the beginning of the Welcome 2 America tour which started mid December 2010.

Yeah I saw a site that had 2015 as the year she danced with Prince on the Welcome 2 America tour. I'm going to send a note of correction.

Oh okay. Did she dance for a few shows in Europe late summer/early fall of 2010? Because I seem to remember that. I saw on Prince Vault that she was a guest at the show in Nice on July 25th 2010. That was what I was thinking of.

[Edited 12/12/18 7:54am]

I don't have any recorded of her performing with him on that show. She might have been in attendance. July 25th 2010 There was a show Espace Nikaia Nice, Franc and an after show @ Le Palais Club

minnesoundlvr said:

PennyPurple said:

Please refer to my initial comment on this thread (Reply #66) expressing MY opinion (and that of the OP article) on this matter. For your convenience, I have copied and pasted it below.

As the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is a historical figure. As such she is a role model for countless young Black girls. Thus, I wish she had rebuffed the offer to dignifiy the Pirelli calendar's offensive and "reductive" fantasy of her as a stripper. The assessment of the article linked in the OP is right on point.

We can’t help but feel a way that the sole black woman in Pirelli’s 2019 cast—currently the world’s best-known black dancer of any genre—moonlights as a stripper in Watson’s narrative. Frankly, it feels reductive as hell; even Vogue’s description of Copeland’s role seems oversimplified next to those of her co-stars (whose roles as seemingly unfulfilled women feel equally reductive, tbh).

But to be clear, our issue isn’t with the concept of stripping or even Copeland’s Flashdance-style narrative; it’s admittedly an interesting character arc for the accomplished ballerina. Instead, what’s striking is that a year after being lauded for debunking traditional narratives with perhaps the most visionary (and frankly, gorgeous) calendar in its history, Pirelli seems to have regressed by only casting a single woman who presents as of color for this edition (designer Alexander Wang also makes an appearance, and Copeland is paired with fellow American Ballet Theatre dancer Calvin Royal III for her plotline).

Furthermore, by portraying the sole black woman in the cast in this context with only white-presenting narratives as counterpoint, Pirelli and Watson are (likely unwittingly) trafficking in age-old stereotypes of the black female body as hypersexualized and the black woman as dependent upon the commodification of her body to get ahead in the world.

It’s disappointing, to say the least.

I was surprised at her choice to pose in this manner because of that reason as well but she explained in her statement that she felt showing another side of the dance world and championing the women who are a part of it was equally important for her as a role model.