Ballet’s Colourism Problem: Dancing Through Prejudice
- Generation Now
- Oct 27, 2020
- 5 min read
By Julia Brgan
October 23, 2020
“I'm so happy! I don't have to dye my shoes anymore!” says Corps de Ballet member Tene Ward of the National Ballet of Canada.
On September 26th 2020, a video went viral of Ward, a smile on her face, as she was surprised by shoe making company Freed Of London with pointe shoes that for the first time in her life, matched her skin tone.
In clips taken by Joe Chapman, a Second Soloist at the company, and Noah Parets, a fellow corps member, Ward is ecstatic, tapping her toes together and covering her face with her hands. Even spinning and clapping, Ward is overjoyed in seeing something that for many years, was not a reality; this is voiced in the beginning of the first clip, when Chapman asks a question that deserves attention:
“[The tone of the shoes] just makes so much sense, it's like, why wasn't it always?”
To answer this question, the main function of the pointe shoe must be understood.
Pointe shoes are the traditional shoes worn by dancers performing “pointe work”, which is dancing on the tips of one's toes. They allow this to happen by transferring the dancer’s weight onto two critical places of the shoe: under the arch and around the toe. These shoes are designed to make the dancer look weightless, and lengthen the line of their legs while doing steps en pointe.
The problem with these shoes for dancers of colour is that for many years they were only produced in one shade: “ballet pink” which is a pale peach/white colour. When worn with bare legs, they cut the long, sought for lines of dancers with darker skin tones, forcing dancers to “pancake” or dye their shoes and ribbons with grease makeup.
A professional Ballerina uses an average of 100-120 or more shoes a season depending on the program they are performing. Dying even half of this amount will take an hour per pair, with the cost of the cheapest makeup possible being three dollars per bottle, the numbers add up.
Currently, most major companies selling pointe shoes either sell these sought for, darker shades of satin shoes, or are in the process of creating darker tones for shoes.
Bloch: After a petition went viral in June, Bloch promised to manufacture shoes in darker tones in the coming autumn. On their website, only “pink satin” is currently available in pointe shoes, yet more tones are available in flat shoes.
Capezio: Similarly to Bloch, a petition going viral led Capezio’s CEO to issuing a statement that their two most popular styles would be available in darker tones in the Fall of 2020. Currently, the only colour available for pointe shoes is “pink”. In flat shoes, a 5 colour range is available.
Freed Of London: In collaboration with Ballet Black, a company dedicated to celebrating dancers of Black and Asian descent, Freed has been offering pointe shoes in the tones “ballet brown”, “ballet bronze” and “ballet pink” since 2018.
Gaynor Minden: Gaynor Minden has been offering different shades of pointe shoes since 2017, with the company currently supplying in “pink satin”, “mocha satin”, “cappuccino satin” and “espresso satin”.
Grishko: Currently, Grishko offers pointe shoes in traditional ballet pink, as well as most rainbow tones. A “tan” colour is available, yet there is no current stocked shade for darker skin tones. Nikolay, the brand's US name, has the colours “latte” and “espresso” upon request.
Even from the most popular brands worldwide, pointe shoes in shades other than pink have only been available for 3 years. But why does this matter?
Apart from just making a dancer’s lines look long, and cutting down on costs for those who would have to dye them themselves, having shoes that work for everyone shows inclusivity. They make space for people of colour in a sports discipline that has throughout history favoured white dancers.
Often, uniformity is striven for in the “Corps de Ballet” (the artists that make up most of the dancers on stage) yet uniformity has often resulted in a race issue, with companies hiring predominately white dancers, in order to create a version of “oneness” onstage. This type casting is harmful to diversity, and also removes opportunities for dancers of colour.
Carlos Acosta, founder of Acosta Danza and director of the Birmingham Ballet, spoke on the issue in 2012 with The Guardian. "In most companies, when a talented Black dancer is chosen as a member, they don't know how to cast them properly. Still there is this mentality, especially with directors, that a Black ballerina in the middle of a flock of white swans would somehow alter the harmony."
Dancers with darker skin tones have also brought up the issue of tights, which are traditionally a pink pale flesh tone, made to continue the lines of fair skinned dancers between the arms, costume, and shoes. It is agreed that darker tights would match the tone of darker skinned dancer’s arms and chest much better, yet for most, to wear these tights in performances as part of the corps is not an option due to the notion that they would “stick out” too much.
In the ballet documentary, “First Position”, dancer Michaela DePrince’s mother, Elaine, speaks on the issue of white skin being the norm within costuming as well; all pre-made costumes come with lining and strap pieces that are predominately made for dancers with lighter skin tones. “I spent my night dying elastic for the straps,” she says as she lays pieces of cloth on a paper towel, “These little undergarments they wear under their tutus, they don't come in dark brown. I dye all these things for our brown girl, because they're all what we call ‘flesh colour’, well, white flesh colour.”
Michaela then goes on to speak about the struggles and prejudices she has faced as a person of colour within the ballet world. “...The thing is, there's a lot of stereotypes saying that if you're a Black dancer, you have terrible feet, you don't have extension, you're too muscular, you're not graceful enough. I want to be known as a delicate Black dancer who does classical ballet.”
With new changes being made, the issue of dancers of colour not being accommodated in the way white dancers have, has truly been brought to light. Whether it be by the hours they spend dying shoes and straps, or the extra mile they have to go to be recognized, dancers of colour have always — and still do, have to fight harder to be recognized.
Although they may just seem like shoes, what they do for dancers is much more than simply complete a line. They create inclusivity and the effort to accept diversity, as well as send a message that there is space for dancers of colour in what has been historically a predominantly white sport. They show that these dancers are wanted, needed and belong.
In the year of 2020, it seems so simple a thing to have, shoes that match a skin tone that isn't white. This brings back the question voiced by Chapman, as Tene Ward smiles brightly at her first ever pair of shoes that were created with more than a white dancer in mind, “Why wasn't it always [like this]?”
Some companies working to elevate dancers of colour:
Ballet Black (Marylebone, London, UK): https://balletblack.co.uk/
Philadanco!- The Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA): https://philadanco.org/
Lula Washington Dance Theatre (Los Angeles, California, USA): https://www.lulawashington.org/
COBA- Collective Of Black Artists (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): https://www.cobainc.com/
Little Pear Garden Dance Company (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): https://littlepeargarden.com/
Bangarra (Bangaroo, NSW, Australia): https://www.bangarra.com.au/
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