Ballarinas Of Color

The Huffington post published an article talking about the problems we have with race in ballet. The Article is titled 'This Photo Says Everything About Being A Ballerina Of Color Today' and shows an image of a colored ballerina painting her shoes so that they can match her skin color and look appealing to the eye when dancing in them. I know as a dancer I like the look of my shoes matching my skin tone and same goes with my tights because it looks natural and put together. Darker skin girls have a much harder time achieving this look. The article goes on to tell the readers about the process dancers go through to make their shoes perfect, but colored ballerinas have to take another set further and color their shoes and tights to match their skin color correctly. There is an argument that there isn't a big enough demand for multi-colored shoes and tights because there aren't many dark skin dancers. This is an abused statement, obviously there are dancers in all different colors that are in need of dance shoes, tights, leotards and tutus that make them feel comfortable. They should not have work harder to achieve a look a nude or flesh that fits them.


Thankfully there are women of color out there trying to fight this problem. Mahogany Blues a dance apparel company started by Whitney Bracey created a new line of inclusive nude leotards. “I felt like dancers whose skin isn’t considered the nude norm shouldn’t have to go through these extreme measures just to be up to par with other dancers. This should be something that is readily available to them” (Whitney Bracey, Huffington Post). Also, each different color is named after Disney princesses, how cool is that? I hope to see fewer people dismiss this problem and make coloring their shoes one less thing girls of color have to worry about.