Misty Copeland addresses next generation of dancers at McFadden Memorial Lecture

Excited young students and dancers of color — and their parents — crowded the Madam Walker Legacy Center on March 20 for ballet dancer Misty Copeland. The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation welcomed Copeland as the featured speaker for the 45th Annual Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture. Copeland, who made history in 2015 as the first Black woman promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, spoke about her life, career, books and hopes for the future generation of dancers in a fireside chat with local author Ashley C. Ford.  “We’ve [dancers of color] always been here. We just haven’t been given a voice or a platform,” Copeland told the Recorder. “For people to hear us, there have been dancers of color speaking, coming up against these institutions way before me, and they’ve set the stage for me to be able to be in a position where I can speak up and speak out.” The McFadden Lecture series, which brings authors to Indianapolis for community conversations, is funded in part by an endowment from the late Marian McFadden, who acted as director of the Library Foundation from 1945-1956, Shael Weidenbach, youth services and area resource manager for IndyPL, told the Recorder....