Ballet prodigy Misty Copeland has been raised to the rank of principal dancer by the American Ballet Theatre. This makes her the first female African-American woman principal dancer in the ABT's 75-year history, CNN reported.
Copeland, who has been with the group for 14 years, is not the only one elevated to the highest rank in the dance company.
"The American Ballet Theatre announced the news Tuesday in a slew of promotions at one of the country's top ballet companies," the news source said. "Stella Abrera, a 19-year veteran of the company, was promoted from soloist to the rank of principal dancer."
The 32-year-old ballerina had been aspiring for the position since she became part of the company in 2001. She was promoted to soloist position in 2007.
Copeland had, in her 2014 memoir "Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina," previously revealed her fears that it may take "two decades before another black woman is in the position that I hold with an elite ballet company," as noted by USA Today. "That if I don't rise to principal, people will feel I have failed them."
Now that she has achieved one of the ultimate milestones in her career, Copeland's career appears to flourish and impact many, especially young African-Americans aspiring for a place in the world of ballet.
The Missouri-born dancer raised in San Pedro, California began her foray in ballet at 13 - an age considered by ballet denizens a considerably late start. This fact, however, made her rise to her current caliber prodigious and inspiring.
"She has appeared in a Diet Dr Pepper commercial and danced atop a piano in Prince's 2010 tour," CNN noted. "When she became the first ballet dancer to appear in an Under Armour ad in 2014, the spot racked up more than four million views on YouTube within a week."
She has also since been honored as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people this year and was even one of the covers featured on the special issue.
Despite her achievements, Copeland expressed that more still needs to be done.
"I have yet to overcome all of the challenges as an African-American woman in the ballet," she said, as quoted by Yahoo! Beauty. "Accepting that I'm not going to fit into this world that I'm a part of has been a learning process. Accepting who I am as a person, the color of my skin, and the shape of my body," she says. "But what I've learned is that if you have talent, drive, and support, you can be whoever you want to be - even if you don't fit the mold."
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