WIt is always fascinating to see that most people believe ballet shoes are pink as a result of what they see and experience during ballet performances when ballerinas are training or even what they see via televisions and the internet.
The colour of ballet shoes and the reason behind the adoption of such colour remains a mystery to both beginners and those outside of the industry which needs to be corrected.
This article is going to explain the reasons why ballet shoes are pink. And if they are produced in colours other than traditional pink.
Why are ballet shoes pink?
Ballet shoes are pink because traditionally the colour was chosen to match the dancers (Ballerinas) skin tone and make their legs appear longer and slender than they actually are in reality.
Ballet is all about graceful lines which makes performance an A-rated one if the lines are as straight as possible that a ballerina makes.
The pink ballet shoes extend the graceful line ballerina made from her leg to the tip of her toes by matching the skin colour to which the pink is suited for.
Traditionally, ballerinas are always white particularly European descent which makes using pink colour for the ballet shoes the most appropriate to the skin tone of the ballet dancer.
However, ballet shoes have come for some years now after the evolution and expansion of ballet across the world, ballet shoes are no longer exclusively pink colours.
It comes in different colours in other to match the skin colour of ballerinas that are not white
The most recent products are the brown skin ballet shoes designed solely for brown skin ballerinas which are increasing daily across the world.
In the past, Brown-skinned ballerinas could only pancake their pink colour ballet shoes to turn them into a colour that would suit their skin and extend the graceful lines they produced during ballet performances.
Pancaking refers to the process of taking a pink ballet shoe and coating it with a layer of foundation to suit their skin colour.
5 reasons why are ballet shoes pink?
Although ballet shoes now come in different colours but majority of the shoes are still maintain the traditional pink colors.
The reason why ballet shoes come in pink colours is as follows:
- Extension of graceful lines.
- More feminine.
- Uniformity.
- Popular acceptance.
- unobstructive nature
Extension of graceful lines.
The most common reason why ballet shoes are pink is due to the fact that the colour helps extend the graceful lines ballet dancers make in the process of performing their professional activity.
The pink colour extends the legs of a ballerina up to the toes which makes the performance more graceful and the legs look more straight and stunning.
More feminine.
It helps make the ballerinas look feminine which gives the performance a brighter and meaningful event to watch.
Until recent years, ballet is a female-dominated sector and pink colour being the favourite colour among females makes them appear more feminine even to the males that find themselves in the industry.
Uniformity.
The adoption of pink colour also serves in unifying ballet-related activities across the globe.
In all the places where ballet is in existence, you will find that the link colour is the universal colour adopted for both training and actual performance in all countries around the world.
Popular acceptance.
Pink ballet shoes receive by far the highest popular acceptance around the world from both the general public and the ballerinas themselves.
Today, if you produce ballet shoes of different colours and allow people to choose based on their preference, many people will go for pink colour which is what we found when we conducted a small survey of ballet shoes via Twitter.
Unobstroctive nature.
The pink colour is the popular choice because of the unobstructive nature of the ballet shoes during a performance by a white ballerina.
However, the pink colour is only unobstructive to white ballerinas but very obstructive on the other hand if a ballerina is of brown skin colour.
What colour should ballet shoes be?
A ballet shoe should be in a colour that will help a ballerina in expressing and showing more of her graceful lines while at the same time extending the line she perfectly made from her leg to the tip of her toes.
This means that there must be a choice as to what is the best colour that will suit so and so person and the colour that cannot.
For a white Ballerina, ballet shoes should come in a link colour while for a Brown skin ballerina, it should not be a link but a colour that can complement her skin colour and help her appear gracefully for performing ballet training and choreographic performance.
Are all pointe shoes pink?
Not all pointe shoes come in link colours. There are several manufacturers like Freed of London and Gaynor Minden that are producing ballet shoes in bronze and brown colours to suit the needs and demands of brown-skin-coloured ballerinas around the world.
Producing more than three hundred thousand pieces of ballet shoes a year, Freed of London is helping in helping change the direction and dominance of pink colours and giving more room and opportunities to brown-skin ballerina groups like a famous group known as Ballet Black.
Ballet shoes are also being produced in different colours, red, black, green, and white among others but the buying rate of those is very small if compared with the well-known type even though they can be of the same or higher quality.
Can ballerinas wear black shoes?
There is no law or ballet rules that prevent ballerinas from wearing ballet shoes of different colours including those that come in black colours.
A ballerina can wear black ballet shoes either individually when she is practising in private or if the ballet company or group she is working with allows for using such colours.
However, it is important to note that except for ballerinas with similar or black skin colour, wearing black ballet shoes will make the shoes stand out prominently thereby disturbing and distorting the graceful line that a ballerina is looking to make during performance.
Do ballet shoes come in every colour?
With the advancement in technology, ballet shoes now come in almost every colour that you can think of but people are buying expensive ballet shoes from other colours than the traditional pink and the recent brown-skinned alternatives that are trending among brown-skin ballerinas.
Ballet shoes can be accessed in different colours but it will cost you more if you are not buying pink or brown because the majority of the manufacturers around the world only produce in such colour due to demand by people and the need to gain profit.
Conclusion
Ballet shoes are generally and traditionally pink which makes them the most popular dancing shoes around the world and synonymous with ballerinas.
However, ballet shoes don’t only come in pink colours, they are produced in brown and bronze colours to compliment the skin of brown-skinned ballerinas as well as in many different colours even though people are still more interested in pink ballet shoes globally.