It’s pretty much known that black and brown girls aren’t always offered an authentic representation, especially in the ballerina world, where there are plenty of other unique challenges that make accessing it even harder.
This girl, Kira, however, was able to feel seen, perhaps for the first time in her life as both a ballerina and a Black woman, where she was finally able to find pointe shoes that matched her skin tone.
Her video was a celebration of Black excellence
Kira Robinson, an 18-year-old ballet student, posted a video on TikTok while she unboxed her first-ever pair of pointe shoes that actually matched her skin tone. She had shared this video with her 86,000 followers, but much to her surprise, 1,4 million people actually saw the video and kept replaying the video to see Kira’s heartwarming and emotional reaction.
Seeing these numbers, it seemed that Kira wasn’t the only one celebrating this moment, but many other people that she didn’t even know, had joined her too.
Kira even had to cover her feet with foundation once
She further explained in the video, that without having access to pointe shoes that actually match her skin tone, she previously had to put makeup foundation on her shoes, just so they could match to her actual feet.
Kira, who is a student at the University of Oklahoma, wanted to have the same opportunities as the other ballerinas at her school did.
Go with the flow
Robinson told The Independent that she is hopeful that the world will embrace Black and brown ballerinas, and consider them too when it comes to clothing and the right gear for this. And, of course, other opportunities as well.
With this story, Kira wants to emphasize the true lack of representation, and feels that it needs to be changed.
Black women can do anything too
Robinson’s video and story just reminds us that there are many doors that close on Black women who are talented, and they rarely get the chance to be who they are. Luckily, Kira can give a glimpse to millions of people of the inequities that still exist for her and other Black ballerinas.