Prince finds a ballet muse
Last Updated: 3:44 AM, December 26, 2010
Posted: 12:29 AM, December 26, 2010
Misty Copeland usually dances the role of a princess as part of her job as a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre.
But last week, she danced for a Prince
.
Copeland, 26, took a few nights off from her role in "The Nutcracker" at Brooklyn Academy of Music to bring down the house with Prince as part of his tour.
The classical ballerina -- one of a handful of African-American ballerinas in the world -- performed a sexy pas de deux to the hit "The Beautiful One" with the legendary musician after he tracked her down and asked her to be part of her show.
"It was phenomenal," Copeland gushed. "The energy between me and Prince and the audience was really overwhelming. I mean, it was Madison Square Garden, with Prince!"
Copeland also danced with him at two shows in New Jersey, and will perform again Wednesday at the Garden. The collaboration between the ballerina and The Purple One began two years ago, when Copeland got a call from a friend of a friend in Los Angeles who said, "Prince has been looking for you."
"The prince of what?" Copeland said.
Shortly thereafter, the singer himself called, saying he was a big fan of the ballet, had followed Copeland's career for years and wanted her to perform in his 2009 "Crimson and Clover" video.
"He said he thought it was a perfect song for a ballerina," Copeland recalled. "I flew out and met him on the set. It was just the two of us, besides the lighting guys, and they put me in this gorgeous dress and he said, 'Do whatever you want, whatever you feel with the music.' "
The two stayed in touch.
"He'd call me and ask me when I'm performing with ABT, and I'd set him up with a private box," Copeland said.
During the concert, Copeland seduces the musician with a sexy outfit and flirty dance moves.
"I'm the 'beautiful one' that hurts him every time. I flirt with him, and he's pouring his heart out to me and asking me to choose between him and another man. It's a cat-and-mouse, back-and-forth chase," she says.
By the end of the number, Copeland is on the piano dancing while Prince is at her feet screaming his feelings for her into the microphone.
Then the pair exit together, lowered by an elevator center stage, with Copeland on the floor at Prince's feet as the crowd goes wild.
"The energy I felt at Madison Square Garden was like nothing I've ever experienced. I felt such a connection with the audience because you can hear their feedback, which doesn't happen during classical ballet performances," she said.
She said Prince was adamant that she dance en pointe during the show.
"He chose me because I'm a ballerina, and he has a vision that certain songs needed that," she says. "I think he wanted people who don't know about the ballet to connect with it."
Peace, Love & Light [& Stay Funky] ...
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFloridaNPG/
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/PurpleMusicMansion/
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Live_4_Love_Minneapolis/
NPG Member 4 Life ... [Live 4 Love]
No comments:
Post a Comment