African-American ballerina Misty Copeland has been front and center talking about race in the ballet world, and many are listening. NY1's Budd Mishkin filed the following One on 1 profile.

Misty Copeland is a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre. On the day we met Copeland at ABT's studios, she was preparing for one of ballet's rites of December: "The Nutcracker."

"'Nutcracker is just in our systems from the time we start taking ballet," Copeland says. "Most schools do, that's what they do. It's like the moneymaker."

In 2007, Copeland became only the third African-American female soloist in the history of ABT, the first in 20 years. Some performers shun discussing their place in history, especially with regards to race. Copeland confronts the issue head-on.

"It's something that I've done willingly, and I've felt that it's my duty," she says. "Having this opportunity, I think of it as, I don't know when there will be a next. I don't know how long it's going to be. I hope it won't be another 20 years until there's a black female soloist in a major company. So it's just been something I've felt that I needed to do."

Copeland is quick to credit those who came first, laying the groundwork for her in the dance world years ago. She's embraced the story of Raven Wilkinson, a ballerina whose own career was derailed by the overt racism of the 1950s and '60s.

"Her story means so much to me, to be able to share it, and also to kind of point out that the ballet world hasn't changed so much since then," she says. "And I think the more that we provoke this conversation, that it's going to force the ballet world to make changes."

But Copeland knows that right now, the platform is hers.

Copeland's reach extends beyond the world of ballet. A commercial for the apparel company Under Armour has more than 6 million YouTube hits. The letter recited in the ad was not written specifically to Copeland, but it might as well have been. (One of the lines reads, "You have the wrong body for ballet, and at 13, you are too old to be considered.")

"I think that's why so many people connected with it, because everyone's experienced being told no or being told they weren't right, or being turned down and having the strength to persevere is what that 'I will what I want' campaign is about."

She's also performed with Prince at Madison Square Garden.

Mishkin: In Prince's group, roadies, whatever, lot of discussion comparing the Kirov to the Bolshoi?
Copeland: (Laughs) That's all we talked about.

"I agreed to working with him because I understood how many people would see ballet, how many people it was going to reach, and that he was going to respect my art form, because that's who I got to know as a person in him," she adds.

Copeland says that worse than the slights she's felt through the years are the slights to young dancers she's mentored along the way.

"There are teachers out there telling these dancers that they didn't belong because of their skin color or because of their body type, and that, to me, is the most hurtful thing."

Mishkin: After all these years, did you think, 15 years later, that can't possibly still be going on?
Copeland: I think we're just now reaching that start of really acknowledging the lack of diversity in ballet.

Not many 32-year-olds have published a memoir. Copeland's is entitled "Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina." In it, she recalls a tumultuous childhood growing up in California. Because of her mother's numerous marriages and relationships, the family moved frequently and even lived out of a hotel.

"It was normal for me, that life," she says. "I didn't know anything else, so to me, it wasn't necessarily a struggle. It just, it was what it was, and that was my life."

She was introduced to ballet at a local Boys and Girls Club at the ripe old age of 13, when some ballerinas have already been dancing for 10 years. The connection was immediate.

"It was the first time I really felt like I was a part of something bigger, and that I had a way of voicing who I was through this movement," she says.

"It was an escape for me every time I came into the ballet studio. It was like, that hour-and-a-half class was a chance for me to just kind of be in this dream world and dream that I was as fairy princess and that had I all these opportunities apart from all the obstacles that were in my life."

For a time, Copeland lived with her ballet teacher. At age 15, she was the subject of a custody battle between her teacher and mother.

"It was just an extremely difficult time, but it definitely allowed me to see the bigger picture that, 'I have to get out of this situation,'" she says.

"As I started to grow as an artist, I had more life experience to draw from, feeling pain and insecurity, and there was just something about ballet that made me feel strong."

She came to New York on an ABT scholarship in 2000. Shortly thereafter, she suffered a stress fracture in her lower back and was sidelined for a year.

Around the same time, Copeland also struggled with body image issues as she went through puberty at the late age of 19.

"I was on my own and I had no guidance, and so I just kind of rebelled against the ballet culture and what I thought they wanted from me," she says.

"That was an extremely difficult time for me, and again, I rebelled by overeating rather than going the other way. And it was really just understanding that I was only doing myself harm."

Mishkin: Once it is under control, do you have to go to the Krispy Kreme guys and say, "Sorry fellas, I've been a good customer but I'm out?" 
Copeland: (Laughs) Somewhat. I definitely don't neglect donuts from my diet, but it's just portion control."

In 2012, Copeland became the first black ballerina in a major classical ballet company to dance the lead in "The Firebird."

Copeland still dreams of reaching the highest rank within the American Ballet Theatre: principal dancer. The reality is that the length of a dancer's career can be short, but Copeland is using her time in the limelight, hoping to inspire the next generation.

"I know there's a bigger meaning behind me sharing my story, so it doesn't feel like I've said this so many times, or I get excited talking about the opportunities that so many will hopefully have because I'm sharing my story," she says.