*Fox has ordered a script for a new dance series from Misty Copeland and writer/producer Tracy Oliver.
The one-hour drama “follows a group of young, aspiring dancers as they fiercely compete for places” in a top ballet company, a spokesperson for Fox wrote in an email, initially reported by Deadline.
Though originally reported that the series would be “partially based on Copeland’s life story,” the Fox rep said this was not the case.
In June, Copeland became the first African-American woman to be named a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. In the past year, she appeared as Ivy in the Broadway revival of the musical “On the Town,” and got engaged to her attorney boyfriend, Olu Evans. Last year, she penned her autobiography, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina,” and her new documentary, “A Ballerina’s Tale,” is currently available on VOD.
Copeland said performing in “On the Town” for two weeks made her a better dancer and a strong performer “with more of an understanding of taking on a character,” she said. “I wanted to challenge myself. Then when I was preparing — I didn’t have a lot of time — I was just so freaked out. I haven’t really been nervous about being onstage in a long time.”
The performance was the first for Misty that required her to sing and dance in front of a live audience, and fear of the new territory rattled her confidence. “It was not knowing how I was going to do and not feeling completely prepared to sing in front of people and speak. But after the third show, I just fell in love with it. I’m so thankful that I did it.”
Oliver, who worked on the Web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” approached Copeland with the hopes of working together after reading about her. The two women will serve as executive producers on the dance series. As Newsweek reports, a script order does not ensure that a show will make it to television. Once the studio receives a complete script, it will decide whether or not to order a pilot and then if it will order a full season.
Copeland will be performing the role of Clara in ABT’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” at Segerstrom Hall on Dec. 16 and 19 and she will conduct a master class on Dec. 21 in a benefit for her alma mater, the San Pedro Ballet School.
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