1ºSara McKie White and I believe I know a few more people who can make, repair, dye, do whatever to the shoes. You know, the work needed. And based on his experience, they don’t wanna pay the extra cost. He can sell the show for about 20-30 bucks in his area, but you want it dyed that goes up to over 100. Most don’t wanna pay that,, they’d rather whine about how they have nothing in their skin tone. Sorry, I just messaged him about twenty minutes ago and that’s coming from the guy who does that type of work. I’d say he knows that side of this conversation better than you. Thanks for playing, come back when you have some facts
2ºMelissa D Symonds you have the second part backwards. Customers need to demand it to justify production, and that demand can’t waver. I would also look at the raw material. I don’t know anything about the production of the shoe, but who produces the fabric? If that is not available, then manufacturing the shoe is a moot point. A great example (ok…guy thing) is replacement parts for trucks. I had to finally trade mine as I couldn’t find parts for a 20 year old truck. They were not discriminating against me, it’s just that there isn’t enough demand to continue production of the part.
3ºLeland Gradney CNN is notorious for their narrative (as is Fox). When the problem is much more simple. I’m sure you would ignore an article about how I’m deprived of modeling materials for my train because I model the modern era, rather than the 40’s and 50’s… just because I’m young I’m discriminated against (yes that’s sarcasm). It is the same narrative as this article, just changed the demographic and the material. However, it is the same principle. The only reason this article is even promoted is because of race, otherwise everyone would ignore it. And as I said, if you see the opportunity, exploit it. Everyone arguing against me here seems to think there is money to be made
4ºOh boy…I was gonna keep scrolling but…I just really don’t understand this post. I danced & did point until I was 18. Never for a moment did I think my tights & shoes were to match my skin (?) I’m not pink! Very often I wore black tights with my pink pointe ballet shoes. Should I have focused on getting tan or peachy tights & shoes? Or was it just the simple innocent reason of having everyone looking uniform in ballerina pink…truly any color could have been chosen back in the day. Would this be a non-issue if instead of pink it was purple or gold?
5ºLayla Sinned actually, no, you can't just get them dyed. Pointe shoes are constructed from layers of cardboard that have been glued together. Just wearing them for class results in moisture that can break down the shoe (my daughter rotates 3 pairs at a time so that she can go 72 hours between wearing, thus letting the shoes dry sufficiently), so dying them could cause the shoe to be structurally unsound. Ballerinas of color will "pancake" their shoe to match tights/skin color by applying foundation, but even that damages the shoe and causes it to lose structural integrity and "die" much sooner. Depending on the model of shoe, strength of the dancer's foot, and level she dances at, most shoes only last between 10 and 20 hours, with some professionals generally going through 1-2 pairs per performance. If you pancake the shoe, you're likely not even going to get 10 good hours.
6ºEarl Edwards dude, the shoes are for the dancers, nit the people watching the performance. It's the same principle as female soccer players worldwide are more and more wearing colored shorts instead of white on the off chance that a female player is getting her monthly bill. The colored shorts aren't designed to make spectators happy; they're designed for the females competing. Tbh, it think this is really your roundabout way of expressing displeasure at something because skin color is involved; and although you don't have a racist nerve in your body (whether you do or not is nothing I'm losing sleep over), you're tired of a finger being pointed in your direction. Basically, this is you complaining of "wokeism" in hushed tones. Now before you knee-jerk at my response, I suggest you research about what I said as it relates to female soccer players.
7ºThis absolutely matters. The recent Ballet West production of The Nutcracker at The Kennedy Center was a perfect illustration. The Dance of the Snowflakes comes to mind. This (and other corp dances during the performance) had corp members who were non-white and they had tights and shoes that matched their complexion. It DID NOT interfere with the illusion of uniformity, it enhanced it. The movement of the arms (bare), the arch of the neck...it's all part of the choreography and those lines only appear to the eye as intended when the dancer's skintones are matched to the legs and feet.
8ºTheresa Bartell-Alwood Tights and ballet shoes, especially for professional dancers, are supposed to mimic the dancers skin tone to produce a professional, clean, and elegant look. Watch any professional ballet. You can’t do that if the legs and feet look different than the dancers skin and then when they put on a costume or leotard you could be working with like 3 or 4 different colors which looks tacky. So yes,absolutely, there needs to be more tones available. Ask any POC dancer this is a real issue.
If I was a stage manger I’d have a fit if a brown skin dancer showed up in white tights and pink shoes to go with a Pearl colored leotard, for example
9ºTheresa Bartell-Alwood don’t be deliberately dense. In the photo you can see tights and shoes that appear white. Pink-white tights and shoes match bare white arms, shoulders, and other exposed skin, giving the impression of uniformity. For a dancer of colour, it’s going to look like the top and bottom halves of their bodies are two different colours, and appear jarring.
Not having the right colour of shoes available tells young Black girls that they they aren’t expected to be successful ballet dancers, so there’s no point even making the shoes.
That’s the wrong message to give out, and a wrong-headed as well as damaging one, given the number of successful dancers of colour, and the potential for many, many more, if barriers are removed.
10ºJack Mcfadden the customers who would be purchasing the shoes would pay the necessary cost. Proper pointe shoe fitting is very specific and once the right shoe with the correct vamp, shank and toe box is identified, then the dye can easily be customized. Us dancers will pay a lot for the proper shoes for our particular dance genres. I am a former ballet dancer and now a tap dancer and instructor and you'd be amazed at the (what would be deemed strange features by a non dancer) I need and want and the amount of money and research that goes into that.