Van Stone: My Prince Tribute-Recognition of The Late Great Prince and Misty Copeland Performance Making the Cover... Misty Copeland Says How Working With Prince Feels

Van Stone: My Prince Tribute-Recognition of The Late Great Prince and Misty Copeland Performance Making the Cover... Misty Copeland Says How It Was Working With Prince 

 Misty Copeland and Prince


Tell me what it’s been like working with Prince.
Getting to know him personally has been such an eye-opener for me as an artist. Being around another artist who is so passionate about what he does, I feel like I’ve grown so much in the past two years. Just to see firsthand a musical genius, and to see that it’s okay to be completely immersed in what you do. Those are the best artists. He’s just been a great mentor and friend. It’s been fun.

What specifically do you feel you’ve learned as a dancer from Prince as a musician?

Something happened, something clicked when I really got to know him that gave me this confidence on stage. He’s just helped me to see the bigger picture — to not be so focused on the political things that happen in my company and with dancers around me, and to really focus on me and what I’m doing. Not to feel judged by other people. When you’re in a field like I am, you get more negative feedback than you do positive. I mean, we stand in front of a mirror all day because we’re supposed to look at our flaws and fix them. So it’s been nice having someone say positive things like, “You can do this” and “The sky’s the limit.”