Podcast: Ballerina Misty Copeland on leadership

(Misty Copeland rehearses at the Kennedy Center on April 7, 2014. Photo by Lillian Cunningham/ The Washington Post)

LISTEN: A conversation with ballerina Misty Copeland

This week our podcast is with dancer Misty Copeland, a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. She’s the first African American woman in two decades to reach that level with the company. On Thursday night, she broke one of ballet's barriers with her American debut in the lead role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. Misty spoke with The Post this week, as she rehearsed at the Kennedy Center, about her historic achievement and the discipline that fueled her success.

You can subscribe to our On Leadership podcast on iTunes to hear all of our weekly conversations on life, character and advice, featuring influential figures from across business, politics, science and the arts:

iTunes Podcast: On Leadership from The Washington Post

***

You may also want to take a look at our condensed transcript of the conversation with Copeland, as well as our beautiful video of her dancing:

The American Ballet Theatre soloist makes history with Swan Lake. (Video: Lillian Cunningham, Jayne Orenstein, Randolph Smith and Julio Negron/The Washington Post)

Also in the podcast series:

A podcast on leadership with author Gretchen Rubin

A podcast on leadership with humorist David Sedaris

A podcast on leadership with Virgin founder Richard Branson