Misty Copeland’s latest book—’Bunheads Act 2’—makes room for kids and communities left out of ballet’s spotlight

With ‘Bunheads Act 2,’ Misty Copeland spotlights friendship, culture, and why joy (not perfection) keeps her on stage.

Misty Copeland has always known ballet was bigger than the stage. With her new children’s book, “Bunheads Act 2: The Dance of Courage,” the groundbreaking ballerina isn’t just telling stories about pliés and pirouettes. She’s spotlighting the friendships, communities, and cultures that make those stories matter.

“Every book that I’ve written, I would say there’s never been one experience that’s really been the same,” Copeland told theGrio. “With ‘Bunheads’ in particular, it’s really like an easy, organic flow, because it’s truly based off of my passion and my love for ballet, but being in the studio, and the communities that are so rich and so supportive, and the friends that you make. All the things that we don’t often get to see depicted when it comes to ballet.”

The friendships Copeland formed in her early studios have stayed with her, and they’re center stage in “Bunheads Act 2.” The book draws directly from her relationship with her childhood best friend, Catalina, affectionately known as Cat.

“I really wanted to be able to give her an opportunity to shine,” Copeland explained. “She’s Mexican American, and her love of Spanish and Mexican traditional dancing, and being able to go into her home and have sleepovers, and this beautiful display of her culture, I really wanted to celebrate.”

For Copeland, celebrating Cat’s culture is also about rewriting what many kids imagine when they think about ballet. “I really want to show…the difference in all of these characters in their lives, and the families they come from and the different communities they come from, but they all find these beautiful relationships and commonality through their love and passion for dancing,” she said. “We don’t all have to look the same in order to get along and find similar interests.”

Copeland knows that the images people often associate with ballet, stoic studios, strict instructors, and little joy can be intimidating, especially for children of color. But she insists that ballet can be fun. “There’s so much pressure, where it’s like such high stakes, and…when I see these professional ballet schools, it just doesn’t look joyful. It looks very competitive,” she said. “But the discipline and the rigor can still bring joy…when you’re in the corps de ballet, and the camaraderie that happens when you’re coming together and dancing with a group—it’s like you’re on a team.”

She believes that camaraderie is ballet’s future. But for more children to have access to that joy, the field itself needs to evolve. Copeland points to the lack of diversity in leadership as one of ballet’s biggest barriers.

“To see more diversity in the teachers, I think that we will see a huge shift in parents wanting to put their children into ballet,” she explained. “So many parents of color don’t feel like their child is safe in certain schools and environments when they don’t have representation in front of the room. That’s been a real missing link in keeping ballet so exclusive.”

Representation, she argues, isn’t just about what dancers look like—it’s about who’s shaping their experience, from understanding Black hair care to matching brown pointe shoes. “That’s like one small but big ‘wow’ that I think would really have this ripple effect,” she explained. “More diversity in the schools will then go into the companies. Because the one thing that we always hear is, ‘Oh, there just aren’t enough dancers of color to choose from.’ And it’s like, they’re there and they want to do it. We just have to give them the right support.”

While the setting of “Bunheads Act 2” is a dance studio, Copeland emphasizes that the book’s message is bigger than ballet. “This isn’t just a book for dancers,” she said. “It really comes back to relationships and having empathy and compassion for other people, and kind of stepping back and allowing others to be on their own journey, and just what it is to be supportive.”

Looking back on her own journey, from dreaming about American Ballet Theatre (ABT) at 13  to becoming the company’s first Black female principal dancer, Copeland admits she gets emotional. 

“Thinking at 13 or 14 that ABT was my dream company, and that I’ve gotten to live out my dream and beyond my dream is surreal,” she reflected. “It’s incredible.” 

While she’s preparing to do her last bow with the company, Copeland says she’s not done dreaming. “I’ve got all these stories in my head,” she said with a laugh. “So there are so many Bunheads in the future that I’m going to continue writing, just to be able to feature different characters that I feel will be relatable to a diverse audience.”

“Bunheads, Act 2: The Dance of Courage” is available now wherever books are sold and on audible.