HARRISON, NJ (Tuesday, April 23, 2024) – NJ/NY Gotham FC today announced that Misty Copeland - the first Black woman ever promoted to Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theater – will attend the Gotham FC vs. Racing Louisville match as an official special guest and honorary Gotham FC Torchbearer on Sunday, April 28 at Red Bull Arena at 5 p.m. ET.

As a part of the Gotham FC home tradition, Copeland will join members of the community and the club’s passionate supporters group for the ceremonial pregame lighting of an eight-foot tall torch that ignites with a live flame before kickoff.
 
Copeland has performed some of the most iconic classical ballet roles, including Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Giselle, Manon, Coppelia, Kitri in Don Quixote, and Firebird, among countless others. She debuted on Broadway in “On The Town” in 2015 and made her major motion picture debut in Disney's The Nutcracker And The Four Realms in 2018.
 
She made her first awards season guest performances in 2019 with Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards and at the 2020 Grammy Awards alongside Camilla Cabella, Common, Ben Platt, and dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, as well as the televised Prince Grammy Tribute performing with award-winning recording artist H.E.R.
 
As an avid philanthropist and an ambassador of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, of which she is also an alum, and MindLeaps, the Principal Dancer launched The Misty Copeland Foundation in 2022, with it’s first signature program BE BOLD, which aims to bring greater diversity, equity and inclusion to dance, especially ballet. In 2023, she launched the women’s line of Greatness Wins, an athletic wear business she co-founded with Derek Jeter and Chris Riccobono. 
 
The three-time New York Times best-selling author is also the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Spingarn Medal, the NAACP’s highest honor, the 2023 Trailblazer Icon Award at The Grio Awards, an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from New York University, the 2024 Innovator Award from the African American Film Critics Association, and was twice named to The Root 100.
 
Misty also founded her own production company called Life In Motion Productions, which focuses on bringing representative stories of artists past, present, and future, and normalizing the arts experience. The company’s first original film, Flower, had its world premiere at Tribeca Festival in 2023. 
 
Tickets are available at GothamFC.com to watch Misty Copeland light the torch as a part of the pregame festivities before the reigning champions host Racing Louisville at Red Bull Arena at 5 p.m. ET. 

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