Ingrid Silva used to paint her ballet slippers.
Ingrid Silva used to paint her ballet slippers (C) Ingrid Silva/Instagram
The 33-year-old dancer was born in Brazil but now performs with the Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York City and explained that she used to use liquid foundation to alter the tone of her ballet shoes to match her dark skin tone but soon found it frustrating that she couldn't buy her own.
She said: "[Painting my shoes] was therapeutic at first. I was like, 'Oh, this is so exciting'. And then I was over it. Why didn't [brands] just create pointe shoes that are my skin colour?"
Ingrid went on to add that when she made her professional debut as a ballet dance at the age of 18 in 2006, the world "wasn't ready" for a black ballet dancer and claimed that performs of colour still don't get much "opportunity" to succeed in the business and wondered what would happen to her career after she gave to a daughter in 2020.
She told Allure: "I believe that they weren't ready for me. Black dancers don't get a lot of opportunity to succeed because [people] don't believe we exist in this art form. I think that's really important because every young kid who comes to watch us, they see themselves. And that's the change right there. It's what made me who I am.
But I work with my body, and I did not know what was going to happen. So I was extremely worried about [my career]. 'Am I going to be able to come back to dance'? [after having my baby?]"