Here’re the allegro steps and quick jetes on ballet uber-etoile Misty Copeland, who’ll be appearing at a SOLD OUT Free Libray Author Event at Parkway Central Library tonight, Thursday, April 13. (For those who can’t make it, no worries, we’ve got your back! Watch along with us during or after the event at livestream.com/FLP/Copeland.)

First of all, she’s sort of a superhero:

• She’s defied the so-called rules of the ballet for most of her life. She didn’t start dancing until she was 13, an astounding fact, given that most ballerinas are basically told to begin pirouetting in utero.
   
• She overcame a tumultuous childhood and was fielding professional job offers at 15.
   
• After a positively meteoric early career, in 2015 she became the first African American woman in American Ballet Theater’s 75-year history to earn the coveted position of principal dancer.
   

Here’s her ubiquitous Under Armour ad, a pretty good summation of her struggle and accomplishment:

And one more quick take in which Copeland offers context for this ad and her extraordinary career:

 

Second, she’s a versatile and bestselling author. Her titles include Firebird, a children’s book in which she inspires a young ballet student and seeks to empower all young people of color; and Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, a memoir of her groundbreaking artistic life.

Copeland's visit to the Free Library will be to discuss her latest book, Ballerina Body, her first health and fitness book. In it she offers tips, encouragement, and a fitness regimen to help people achieve lean, powerful physiques. Clearly, she knows what she’s talking about.

Third, what else HASN’T she done? In addition to her ballet and writing careers, Copeland has produced a line of dancewear; has modeled and been a spokesperson for T-Mobile, Dr. Pepper, Coach, Dannon yogurt, and Seiko, among other companies; was named to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition; and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the world in 2015. And oh yeah! Last year, Mattel created the Misty Copeland Barbie doll.

Earlier this year she sat down with President Obama to discuss race, body image, and how friends are there to keep you from believing your own hype.

Did we mention that she’s amazing at modern dance, too?

Barre none, tonight's event will be the best thing you’ve done all week.

Misty Copeland will speak with Tracey Matisak at a SOLD OUT Author Event on Thursday, April 13, 2017, 7:30 p.m. at Parkway Central Library, where she will discuss her new book, Ballerina Body.