Dance Magazine: I remember when I encountered the color cinnamon. Such warmth and comfort instantly saturated my soul. It was the summer of 2015, a time I will never forget, and I was trying on my first pair of flesh-tone tights. The band fit perfectly on my waist with such a calm gentleness. They were tights that looked like me—not ballet pink, the color that many were taught could be the only one in the ballet world. It was me, all the way from my head to my toes. No breaks, perfect continuity.
10 comments:
This article was written with such poetry and love behind it. It honestly made me tear up a little bit. I have read so, so many stories about pointe shoes. Non-white dancers have to paint pink slippers with foundation to get their correct shade. Michaela DePrince, a Black soloist for the Dutch National Ballet, talked about having to sew new parts onto her costumes (or having to make her own) in order for mesh to match her skin in a documentary I watched back in high school. I think something that we as white people have failed to realize is how practices (which many people think are not a big deal) like only having or requiring pink pointe shoes and tights can be so exclusionary and hurtful to non-white people. In the dance community especially, where shoes and tights are meant to highlight beautiful lines created by the body, and costumes are meant to emphasize your skill and character as a dancer, it is hurtful to non-white dancers when these things are interrupted by a pink color that does not match their skin. It is so wonderful that companies like the DTH School give dancers an opportunity to just exist in their skin, and eliminate that uncomfortable gap to allow them to dance without having to battle exclusion.
This is such a beautiful piece of writing. As I grew up it became more and more apparent of how privileged I am simply because of the things offered to us on shelves. I remember someone pointing out to me how light the color often referred to as "nude" is, and no one had to tell me how messed up it was, it just clicked in my mind. This is why people not admitting their privilege is so aggravating to me. The fact of it is so obvious, to not admit it is an act of pure selfishness. The joy of representation expressed in this article is so beautiful, but the fact that this is not the norm from an early age is so sad to me. Representation is so important in ways the most privileged among us will never know. They do not know the anguish of not seeing anybody like you, and needing to work to find a role model or become your own. But, on the other hand, they will not know the joy of finally being seen after searching for yourself and your community for your whole life.
This was an absolutely beautiful article, written with so much love and joy. It speaks to the overwhelming amount of inherent racism in dance and entertainment: assuming pink/white tights as the standard, or for pointe shoes as well. We’ve been talking about similar things in my ART class, especially in regards to designers learning their craft without making white people the “standard” actor (this goes for hair, makeup, lighting, costumes, etc.). For us white folks, it can be so easy to forget that this is happening around us because the world has us as the standard, the normal; this idea must be broken and shattered and destroyed. It is harmful. I am glad to see that the DTH school is not continuing this trend, and not only asking their students to wear flesh tone tights but also carrying them in their school store for students to purchase with ease.
As embarrassing, and I guess sad, as this is to admit, I was well into my young adult years when I realized that band-aids were supposed to blend into your skin. Truth is, it was just never something that clicked for me. They didn’t blend into my brown skin and disappear. They were this big thing covering my cut but still exposing the fact that I had some form of an accident. Having these things stand out against my skin was just something that I thought was the way it was supposed to be up until a few years ago. Thinking back, it’s a bit sad to think that something so small had such a big impact in its exclusivity to the point of it being ingrained in me that the wrong way was right for me. It’s also sad that only here recently, lots of companies like band-aid have decided that they should include all skin tones when the intent behind the product was originally to have it blend into "people's" skin. (Which poses the question, who did they refer to as "people?") I remember seeing lots of people praise those companies for being inclusive but it honestly saddened me to think that only now they’re realizing that not everyone is white. I personally did not think they deserved much praise as a company but the person within the company who may have brought it up and demanded the need for all skin tones deserves a pat on the back. I have digressed from the article, but whenever I see brown dancers talk about being happy over having skin toned ballet attire it brings me back to things like the band-aid one. I’m sure there are some with the same sentiments as me. Of course we are all grateful for the strides and the fact that companies are realizing that there are other skin tones. But for me, it’s so disheartening to think that these things we not originally made for us to the point where we have to relish over seeing brown-dark brown included when “skin toned” products are the topic at hand. To the companies that, from day one, included all skin tones in their products, hats off…
The discussion of flesh-tone tights is one that leaves me so deeply disappointed in white folks in entertainment. No one should be put through this. There should not have to be a celebration for this because there is simply no excuse that anyone went without flesh-tone tights. This article was written so beautifully. This article did an incredible job of calling attention to what many white folks don’t see as privilege. Perhaps a pair of tights in the proper tone means nothing to a white performer, as mentioned, it is just something that sits on their shelves. I spent years dancing, and it was not something I ever considered until I was working in the costume shop freshman year. The whole point of tights is that they emphasize the lines that the dancer does so much work to create, and having tights that don’t match the skin tone of the dancer, disrupts what they are creating.
This was so sad and so heart-warming at the same time, I’m really glad I chose to read it. There’s so many issues at play with the frustration of POC in the dance world specifically - the value of homogeneity and the lack of overall diversity means that dancers with darker skin tones are stuck with ‘skin tone’ costume items that look out of place and work as microaggressions that whisper ‘you’re not welcome here’. I’m so glad this dancer was able to find a dance company that values her, and so frustrated that this is rare enough to be a big deal, and special enough to write an article about. It shouldn’t be a big deal, it should be the standard. Between ‘nude’ colored products almost always being designed for white skin, makeup companies creating 50 shades of white concealer and 2 of brown, and Black actors needing to do their own hair because the professional hairdressers don’t know how to work with it, there are so many issues that need to be addressed on so many levels to actually make the arts and entertainment industry a welcoming place for BIPOC artists, rather than just saying ‘we commit to anti-racism’ and calling it good.
Many people don’t realize how impactful seeing your shade of tights at a store is because they have always been the color on the shelf. I can’t even imagine how many young girls of color had to buy white or pink tights or had to settle for the wrong shade because companies didn’t find it important to produce them. The effect that must’ve had is heartbreaking. It seems like such a small thing, but it’s not. Faith beautifully discusses how big of a moment that was for her. She saw herself as a ballerina and was able to look around and see other people who look like her too. It’s sad how this is not the only industry that has done poorly with inclusion, for example it wasn’t until recent years that makeup companies offered a wide shade range. Women with darker skin were offered one to two options while people on the other side could pick from 10 to 15. I’m glad I’m starting to see changes.
I cannot stress enough how important it is for little notes of inclusion like with flesh tones tights. I’m not a dancer or dark skinned so I will never know the feeling of getting dark colored tights as a dancer, but from an outsiders’ POV, it is clear how white of an art dancing is. Rarely there are dark skinned ballerinas. Most entertainment industries are this way. The importance of making young dark skinned kids feel included in the entertainment they are watching is so imperative. If I had seen more Asian Television stars or more Asian live stage actors, going into a field like this wouldnt be as scary and nerve-wracking as it actually is. The same stands for dancers, designers, actors, musicians, and any industry alike.
I think that for so many years large manufacturers of dancewear have completely alienated people with darker skin complexions. Wether it be from the color of a character shoe, dance tights, dance belts or others, It is very hard for a person with a dark complexion to find anything that'll match their skin. While on the professional level tights and mesh can be dyed to match everyone's exact skin color, the average consumer who maybe taking dance classes would have a hard time finding color matching tights. This shouldn't really be a rare commodity. Small companies I have seen have addressed this problem and have a large range of shades that would fit anyone, and other larger companies have come out with like the article called a “cinnamon” color, I remember LaDuca released their cinnamon color and it was a very big step. I also hope everyone will stop using the word nude as a specific color, and understand that everyone’s “nude” are vastly different.
Inclusion is just as important in the workplace from the general vicinity of things around us to the more major things, such as our career. The dance industry has a long history of being dominated by white people, and not providing sufficient opportunities for dancers of color to succeed. This is a massive problem with a lot to unpack; the article addresses the issue of inclusion. The industry cannot grow, thrive, and adapt during these times if it does not accommodate for a more diverse environment. It truly is heartbreaking thinking about the extent that dancers of color have to go through to not even have the tights of color to match their skin, to have shoes that match, to have the little things within their job that should be a given. It is good knowing that companies out there are trying to change the landscape, but I think that the only way forward will occur when the large companies understand the same.
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