Welcome to En Pointe, a quarterly series that takes a deep dive into the intersection of beauty and dance through the eyes of emerging, multidisciplinary dance talents. Expect an intimate look at the daily lives, dreams, and essentials of dance-bag beauty from the industry’s best young artists.<\/em><\/p>\n It’s been over a decade since I last stepped into my light-filled ballet studio, smelling faintly of resin, wood and super-strength hair spray, but I still find myself slipping easily into the dance variations I had memorized like a prayer… Tombe, Pas de Boury, Glissade, Jett\u00e9. <\/em>Those four steps, among others, are how I habitually move myself from room to room in my home, now that I’ve traded in my Freed of London pointe shoes for the comfort of shearling slippers. While my tea is sipping I find myself pulling myself up against the back of my sofa as a makeshift ballet bar to help me balance, and I always feel better when my hair is pulled away from my face into a bun at the top of my head.<\/p>\n Sure, I no longer spend my Friday evenings after a week of classes and rehearsals icing my sore muscles or sewing ribbons on my pointe shoes as if my life depended on it, but I don’t believe that a ballerina ever really stops being a ballerina. As soon as you fall in love with art, it becomes ingrained in your DNA and stays with you even after you step out of the spotlight for the last time. I consider myself fortunate to have dedicated several years to training in it and to have done so at the same time with Misty Copeland, American Ballet Theatre’s first black principal dancer. Copeland was the first dancer I really remember seeing myself in and she has been one of my biggest inspirations as an artist. I caught up with Copeland to learn more about her career’s most defining moments, next steps, and beauty rituals.<\/p>\n Article continues below