You know Misty Copeland. She's a globally recognized ballerina who became the first Black woman to ever be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.
Drawing in over 11.9 million viewers, Misty's video opens with a shot of her sitting at a table with a pair of pointe shoes, a bottle of foundation, and sponge as she explains how she transforms this essential part of her costumes and career. "Since I started ballet, I've been pancaking my pointe shoes my skin color," she says.
To illustrate, Misty meticulously dabs a bit of foundation on the sponge and begins rubbing the cream into her shoes. "I've ruined so many pillows and couches and clothing because of this foundation getting all over it," she explains. "It's really tedious and time consuming — especially the ribbons and elastics. I'm going through a pair of pointe shoes within a couple of hours, so I have to do a couple of these a night. This is the reality for a lot of Black and brown dancers."
"I do this because it's so important in ballet and the aesthetic that we create a long through line that continues on from the tips of our toes to our head, and it should all be the same color," she goes on to explain.
This idea seemed to confuse many in the comment section of her video, who questioned why she couldn't be comfortable in "pink" shoes. However, up until very recently, pointe shoes solely came in shades of beige and "European pink," which, as the name suggests, was done in efforts toward uniformity and creating a seamless line across a white dancer's body.
For dancers of color, this same effect cannot be achieved, as the "European pink" hue clashes against their skin tone and thereby disrupts the illusion of the performance. In Misty's experience, "The option to have ballet pointe shoes or ballet slippers in my color has often made me feel excluded," she said.
And she's not alone. Other dancers of color weighed in with their own similar stories. One commented, "I remember being in winter guard in high school and had to paint my shoes. I was the only one who had to do that."
And if figures as large as Misty still struggle to find costumes befitting her, imagine how difficult it must be for dancers who are just starting out.
"It's embarrassing how far behind ballet is on this," a person commented.
