Bias in ballet

Why is ballet dominated by fair-skinned dancers?

BY CHRISTINE CHANG Staff Reporter

Ballet dancers twirl across the stage, their bodies moving in perfect unison, feet pointed to a beautiful curve. Uniformity is part of what makes ballet so captivating. When one dancer looks different from the rest, the balance of the dance can be thrown off. Looking down at my own legs, my tights are much lighter than my brown skin; I am the dancer that ruins the symmetry.

Brazilian dancer Felipe Domingos at the Finnish National Ballet was removed from a show because his dark skin stood out too much, ruining the uniformity. The American Ballet Theater (ABT) told African American dancer Misty Copeland to lighten her skin with makeup. Ballet’s focus on conformity has excluded dancers of color since its inception in 15th-century Europe. Initially reserved for the enjoyment of nobles, ballet has primarily retained its privileged – and white – demographic.

Dancing at the San Carlos School of Ballet (SCSB) and in Sequoia Advanced Dance, senior Sarah Hansen discusses the economic privilege that many ballet dancers worldwide have.

“Good pointe shoes are expensive, studios are expensive, training is expensive. It all lends itself to appeal to a certain socio-economic group… I really hate ballet as a system and a concept,” Hansen said.

Dancing at the same studio for over a decade, I rarely questioned the lack of racial diversity. The dancers at my studio seemed diverse in other ways– hair color, body type, sexual orientation, and more. Different types of diversity camouflaged racial homogeneity. Similarly, in the 2022 Sequoia Dance show, mainly white and Asian dancers performed the lyrical and ballet numbers despite the diversity of the program as a whole.

“Anywhere you go, you see more white people in ballet and lyrical. People that are Black or Hispanic in Advanced Dance, almost all of them are hip-hop dancers. A few are jazz dancers, but barely any are in lyrical or ballet,” senior Jodie Trundle said.

Trundle is in Sequoia Advanced Dance and danced at the Academy of American Ballet for 11 years.

This phenomenon is not specific to Sequoia dance; in many ballet companies, most dancers are white or light-skinned. Ballerinas are known for pale skin and pink shoes, and matching tights– colors that contrast the shade of my, and many other dancers’, skin. The origins of light pink shoes are understandable, given ballet’s European roots. Today, however, ballet dancers worldwide are left with a lingering expectation of what a ballerina should be. Dancing in front of mirrors for hours only enhances the contrast between my pink tights and brown arms, constantly reminding me of what I am not and can never be.

“It’s really rare to find shoes that are the right skin color for most dancers who aren’t really pale,” Hansen said.

Fortunately, the ballet world is beginning to change, though rather slowly.The brand of pointe shoes I wear, Capezio, is an American company that produces only one pair, Ava, with multiple fabric tones to match darker skin, in addition to the classic “European Pink” or “Petal Pink” satin. Unfortunately, if Ava doesn’t fit your foot well, as is essential for pointe shoes, you are still stuck with pink satin.

Programs like Ballet Fantastique are working to bring ballet to less privileged communities, introducing ballet to more people of diverse racial and economic backgrounds.The San Pedro Boys and Girls Club gave Misty Copeland her first ballet class.Today, she is the first Black principal dancer at ABT.

As a dancer with relatively dark skin, I keep race-related insecurities to myself to avoid drawing attention to my skin color, leading me to judge myself in those studio mirrors silently. Ballerinas must focus on what they love most– dancing– yet myskin tone is a sizeable chunk of my ballet experience.

Recently, a fair-skinned dancer sprained her ankle and arrived in her school uniform to observe class. After ten minutes, it occurred to me that she was not wearing tights. Her skin color was simply the same shade as that of ballet tights. I wondered what it must be like to match the ballet uniform, to know, implicitly, that you belong.

Inclusion and outreach can start here at Sequoia with changes to invite dancers of all racial backgrounds into the dance program.

“When I started teaching at Sequoia, I changed the audition to include more dances than just ballet/lyrical. By only having ballet technique, we were missing out on those advanced jazz and hiphop dancers, which tend to bring more diversity to a program,” Sequoia dance teacher Taylor White said.

Importantly, dancers of all backgrounds should feel comfortable in their own skin at the studio, onstage, and throughout life.

Freshman Marissa Chuang, who dances in Sequoia Advanced Dance and SCSB, is an Asian American ballet dancer. “Ballet is not something you should be judged on by your skin color,” Chuang said.