Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 33. Chapters: American Ballet Theatre principal dancers, American Ballet Theatre soloists, Misty Copeland, Danny Tidwell, Angel Corella, Patrick Bissell, Jeffrey Golladay, Ethan Stiefel, Nora Kimball, Viviana Durante, Alessandra Ferri, Joaquin De Luz, Susan Jaffe, Cynthia Gregory, Sarah Lane, Nina Ananiashvili, Roberto Bolle, Harold Lang, Xiomara Reyes, Gelsey Kirkland, Lucia Chase, Julie Kent, Maria Riccetto, Isabella Boylston, Gillian Murphy, Marcelo Gomes, Vladimir Malakhov, Fernando Bujones, Gemma Bond, George de la Pena, Tener Brown, Daniil Simkin, Irina Dvorovenko, Diana Vishneva, Rebecca Wright, Arron Scott, John Kriza, Yuriko Kajiya, Sallie Wilson, Sascha Radetsky, Paloma Herrera, Jose Manuel Carreno, Anne Benna Sims, John Selya, Matthew Golding, Lisa Rinehart, Ashley Tuttle. Excerpt: Misty Copeland (born 1982) is an American ballerina, described by many accounts as the first African American female soloist for the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States (along with New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet). However, Anne Benna Sims and Nora Kimball, who were with the ABT in the early and mid 1980s respectively, preceded her. In this role as the third African-American ballerina and first in two decades with ABT, she has endured the cultural pressure associated with it. Copeland is considered a prodigy who rose to stardom despite not starting ballet until the age of 13. By age 15, Copeland's mother and ballet teachers, who were serving as her custodial guardians, fought a custody battle over her. Meanwhile, Copeland, who was already an award-winning dancer, was fielding professional offers. The 1998 legal proceedings involved filings for emancipation by Copeland and restraining orders by her mother. Both sides dropped legal proceedings, and Copeland moved...