Misty Copeland’s rise to fame in the ballet world has catapulted her from the American Ballet Theatre to work as an author and now television producer. Copeland has teamed up with Tracy Oliver, who co-wrote and executive-produced The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, to create a TV dance drama inspired by her own life story.
According to Deadline, the untitled Fox project will follow a group of students as they compete with one another for places in a top ballet company.
Copeland’s life is definitely an interesting story. Her upbringing included living in a motel with her mother and siblings, and she didn’t start dancing until the age of 13. Then a custody battle between her mother and ballet teacher ensued. Even after all the childhood hardships, earlier this year Copeland became the first African-American principal dancer at the prestigious ABT.
Oliver, whose career is also in full swing with various TV projects and movies, including Barbershop 3, says she was inspired by Copeland’s story after reading an article about her two years ago. Oliver reached out to Copeland with a cold call and pitched the project to Copeland and her manager.
If you’re eager to learn more about Copeland’s life, last week A Ballerina’s Tale, a documentary film about Copeland and other dancers, was released on video-on-demand.
Take a look at the trailer below.