The Pointe of Pigment
Article originally published September 2020 in A Ballet Magazine by Ashley Lorraine Baker. Photos by Ashley Lorraine Baker.
Some of the world’s top pointes shoe companies share in their mission to better represent the community that uses their products.
The evolution of pointe shoes is a long and expansive history. Recently the intrigue into how dance accessories impact and affect dancers of color has begun to shape this next chapter in pointe shoes. Though dancers of color existed prior, it was not until the 1970’s revolution that was the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s modification of the company dancers' tights, pointe shoes, and ribbons to their shade of brown, that the question of why these items did not reflect the color of the dancer began. This moment in history ushered in an important shift in classical ballet that we continue to see today. This awakening helped to bring in a community of Black-owned dancewear shops like Aurora Tights, Ballet Cafe Naturals, Blendz Apparel, Fleshtone, Mahogany Blues Dance Apparel, Ms. Ro’s Dance Closet, and Nude Barre. These shops helped provide tights, ballet flat, and jazz shoes, as well as leotards in the shades of brown that had not been represented in the more familiar, “big name” dance apparel stores. The one item that these stores were unable to provide to classical ballet dancers is the pointe shoe. Though many dancers have become fond of the pancake practice, the time has come for pointe shoe manufacturers to prioritize all their clientele, which includes dancers of color. This leads us into an exciting time in the evolution of pointe shoes as we are seeing all companies begin to release shades that reflect the diverse skin tones of the ballerinas who wear them.
We had the opportunity to capture the first retailer to provide a release of their collection of inclusive satin shades in 2017, Gaynor Minden. Freed of London, who also featured their product line with us, was the next company in 2018 in collaboration with the London-based dance company Ballet Black to release tone matching pointe shoes. Though heartbreaking, June 2020's nationwide protests demanding racial justice have inspired a continued effort to provide dancewear items that reflect tone matching. Brands such as Bloch, Russian Pointe, Capezio, Nikolay, Grishko have made statements promising the release of these products within the year. Suffolk, even amid production delays due to the coronavirus, has allowed us one sample of their bronze pointe shoe to be in this feature as they begin production on their full line. The beauty of time is it keeps moving forward. The pointe shoe and its manufacturers will have a continued history that hopefully never turns its back on representing all the dancers who bring their shoes to life. To have a choice in what they wear is the freedom all dancers seek. Dancers of color have found their way despite not having items readily available to them and it is important to always remember that before these changes, the cost of pancaking was high. These limitations have brought the strength and determination of dancers, choreographers, directors, dancewear makers of color to make the industry what it is now. A new normal of brands offering various shades of brown pointe shoes is now happening thanks to dancers of color who have made their voices heard on this issue.
Gaynor Minden: Eliza Gaynor, founder
ABE: What drew your company to making the choice to include these products?
EG: Back in the 1980s, when I was developing the Gaynor Minden pointe shoe, one of the many professional ballerinas with whom I consulted was Leslie Woodard of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Leslie told me about all the extra work the DTH dancers had to do to make their pointe shoes match their skin tones and that struck me as an unfair burden. It took a long time to finally be able to offer shoes, tights, and accessories in non-pink colors, and I’m so glad we finally can.
ABE: How do you feel providing these items will impact ballet culture for the next generation of students and professionals?
EG: Gaynor Minden encourages everyone to experience the joys of ballet, and we hope that by offering shoes, tights, and accessories in brown colors we will help make ballet more welcoming and more inclusive. Greater diversity in ballet will increase its potential to communicate with a wider audience and to better represent our society as a whole — expanding its reach and its power for future generations.
Freed: Sophie Simpson; Senior Manager, Retail and Ballet Company Sales
ABE: What drew your company to making the choice to include these products?
SS: Our founder Frederick Freed's mission was to create pointe shoes to "fit every foot". When he founded our company 96 years ago, this meant offering a choice of different lengths and widths. Dancers of today are from diverse ethnic groups, which means that to stay true to our mission statement, we must offer colours to match the dancers skin tone. For our team it was the next step in the evolution of Freed of London
ABE: How do you feel providing these items will impact ballet culture for the next generation of students and professionals?
SS: We are incredibly pleased that our dancers of colour are embracing dancing in shoes that match their skin tone. We also produce soft ballet shoes in skin tone shades. This means that the little girl taking her first baby ballet class can use products that are relevant to her. Our hope is that she will be able to use skin-matching shoes from her first class to final performance. So that for her generation, conversations like this will be a thing of the past.
Suffolk: Keri Suffolk
ABE: What drew your company to making the choice to include these products?
KS: Suffolk is pleased to be able to offer our bronze and brown colors as stock options for our shoes beginning fall 2020. We have been doing the bronze color as a special order since 2000. At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, we started to see a shift in demand as dance teachers began to change their dress codes. For decades, the demand was almost exclusively for pink pointe shoes as class dress codes dictated black leotard, pink tights, and pink pointe shoes. Professional dancers have been able to pancake their shoes to match their skin tone for quite a while, but for a performance, even professionals must wear what the Artistic Director or choreographer has determined to be the look they want for the piece. The trend on social media has been dance photos with no tights and shoes pancaked to skin tone. I think these beautiful, elongating images have helped bring the concept of shoes in all colors being allowed in the studio and on the stage. Social change in several forms has challenged many to ask why dress codes and costuming choices are limited to pink shoes.
ABE: How do you feel providing these items will impact ballet culture for the next generation of students and professionals?
KS: We are hoping as more and more dress codes and costuming requirements change, the demand will be present for even more color options. We know how empowering it is for young dancers to see themselves on stage. Dance reflects the creativity and humanity of our society. Shoes should reflect artists of all colors, rather than limit or exclude. Suffolk is hoping these additions are just the beginning, and that dancers of the next generation will never know being limited to only one color option.
