Misty Copeland Reveals She's Been Facing 'Severe Hip Injury' and 'Physically Couldn't Walk' Right After Farewell Performance

Misty Copeland is facing some physical challenges a week after taking her final bow. Less than a week after performing at the American Ballet Theater (ABT) for the final time on Wednesday, Oct. 22, Copeland spoke with The New York Times about saying goodbye. While she does feel free “in so many ways,” Copeland also noted, “Once you’re in shape and you’ve really focused on the artistry and the people and the relationships, it’s like, ‘Ah, this is what it is. This is what I forgot about; this is what it’s all for.’ ” Copeland also said she’s been “dealing with a really severe hip injury," adding that “everything just kind of plummeted” a week before the final performance. “It was really hard to dance with the complete abandon that I’m used to,” she told The New York Times. By the time she was rehearsing her final number, Twyla Tharp’s “Sinatra Suite,” she was “in so much pain." “I was changing things in the moment,” she said. “But I was just trying to stay really connected to my partners and just really be present in that way. So I guess in my approach, I was free.” One of the first people she called to share the news of her hip injury was Tharp. “Two days before the show I woke up to all these emails from her saying, ‘Call me, call, me.’ She just said: ‘Misty, do whatever you want. I don’t care. Change the steps,' " Copeland recalled. "She’s like: ‘This isn’t about me. This isn’t about the choreography. Try to enjoy yourself.’ ” Despite her ability to finish the rehearsals and give a crowd-pleasing performance, she “physically couldn’t walk” after the show. "My hip, it really locked up. It just needs to calm down. It’s really inflamed.” Although she’s suffering from a hip injury, Copeland told The New York Times that she's headed to Los Angeles for a “really cool opportunity.” “It’s nothing like what I did,” she said. “I want to find a way of doing things that I enjoy and that don’t include ‘Swan Lake.’ ” After she returns from L.A., she’s meeting with her team of doctors to figure out how she can continue dancing. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Since getting back into dancing, “I realized I have to keep moving my body," Copeland said. “And I want to keep moving my body, but it can look like whatever I want it to look like,” she said. "And I think that’s the beauty of movement and the beauty of aging and finding ways to move.” During her final ABT performance, titled A Celebration Honoring Misty Copeland, she was honored for serving as the company's first Black female principal dancer in history since its founding in 1939. She was named principal dancer at 32. Copeland announced plans to retire in June and had not danced in five years before taking the stage last week. "It’s been 25 years at ABT, and I think it’s time,” Copeland told the Associated Press at the time. “It’s time for me to move to the next stage.” Other dancers joined Copeland for the celebration of her career at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The event was co-chaired by Caroline Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey as part of ABT's Fall Gala.