Ballerina Goes Viral For Video Of Brown Ballet Shoes

Kira Robinson, 18, is a freshman ballet major at the University of Oklahoma who went viral for posting a video of her ballet shoes on TikTok.

In the video, she opens her new Suffolk pointe shoes, saying she “finally” got brown ones. Beaming, she holds them up to her skin, saying, “look at this, look at this…it’s brown.” Robinson says how it is “revolutionary” that she won’t have to “pancake them” to make the shoes match her skin tone. Pancaking is “a term used for blending makeup foundation to match a specific skin tone.”

@kiraelon

YAYAYAY i’ll show you guys how they look on later #fyp #CleanTok #blackballerina #blackgirl #dancer #pointe #pointeshoes #suffolk #VisionBoard #dance

♬ original sound – kira

She told Good Morning America that she has received lots of feedback on her video “about how representation is super necessary in the dance world and how a lot of people don’t have that or see that often.” The post has received almost 500,000 likes with reportedly lots of encouraging reactions and commentary.

Good Morning America reported that “Suffolk Pointe Shoe Co. said it started offering brown satin pointe shoes in fall 2020. A bronze satin was released in 2000.”

In the last few years, the director of the company, Keri Suffolk, said that there was a change in demand from customers as dance teachers altered their dress codes. She noted that for generations, dancers only required pink shoes “as class dress codes dictated a black leotard, pink tights and pink pointe shoes.”

Robinson told Good Morning America, “Sometimes it’s frustrating and annoying, but it’s just how it is…The dance world is slow to accept POC (person of color) dancers, and I’ve just had to deal with it and do what I need to do to perform.”

“I was ecstatic when I realized Suffolk was releasing new shoes,” she said. “I’ve been wearing pink ones ever since I was a young girl, but when I heard they were creating brown ones, I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had to grab a pair.”

Suffolk noted that professional dancers have been allowed to pancake their shoes for some time, but for performances, professionals are required to “wear what the artistic director or choreographer has determined to be the look they want for the piece.”

Suffolk said that social change has led to people questioning why these dress codes and choices in costume are confined to pink shoes. She added that “pointe shoes should reflect artists of all colors, rather than limit or exclude…We are hoping these additions are just the beginning, and that dancers of the next generation will never know being limited to only one color option for their pointe shoes.”

Robinson said she is very proud to be able to be a role model for those who want to follow her lead, “and commended the modifications that are taking place in ballet.” She also pointed to the Black Lives Matter movement as a reason for the shift.

“I think we are seeing more diversity in products because of the Black Lives Matter movement,” Robinson said. “A lot of people were fed up with companies’ lack of effort in diversifying their brand and it has taken a long time to see that change. Many have signed and sent petitions to ballet brands to create more colors in their products, and Suffolk was one that heard our plea and started making those changes.”

She said that she hopes people will look up to her and “realize there can always be a brown ballerina on the stage.”

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