Ingrid Silva was the first black ballerina to have her pointe shoes the color of her skin.

With DEI at a critical inflection point, cultivating diverse talent is more important than ever before. As part of our commitment to champion diversity across the industry, the 2024 FN Black History Month Spotlight will highlight the new wave of talent that has emerged in recent years, including brand builders, design innovators, content creators and more.

Ingrid Silva’s career as a professional ballerina has been, in her own words, “iconic.”

The Brazilian-born dancer moved to New York City in 2007 to join the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first major company to prioritize Black dancers and the first Black classical ballet company in the U.S. There, she spent more than a decade hand-dying her pointe shoes with Black Opal foundation so they would match the same color as her legs. One of the pairs is now exhibited in The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

“There weren’t pointe shoes that were in my skin tone,” the dancer told FN, adding, “Only in 2019, I was speaking to the brand of the shoes that I was using [Freed of London] for the past many years and they were able to create pointe shoes that were in my skin tone. That, to me, was a huge eye-opening in terms of diversity and inclusion.”

Silva became the first Black dancer to have pointe shoes in the color of her skin. Her story gained global attention, which led to bigger opportunities. In 2020, she starred in Nike’s “Common Thread” campaign, narrated by Serena Williams, for Black History Month.

“It was really beautiful to see the she [Serena Williams] embraced us as artists. It was really beautiful to see how amazing our stories were told. And just seeing the expression of us dancers, we are also an athlete; we use our body, we use our mind. There are so many things that you do as an artist on and off stage. I think that campaign was a beautiful highlight in my career,” she said.

Since her Nike commercial, the dancer went on to work with different brands to promote her story and her fight for inclusivity and representation in ballet culture. Last week, Cadillac released a campaign with Silva, comparing her artistry with the brand’s newest luxury car.

“It’s all over the world. They’re highlighting me as a dancer, but they’re also highlighting how electric the car is, and I think this is the best match because it’s such an iconic car. And I believe that my journey and my career has also been iconic with so many different contributions to the dance world,” she said.

Silva hopes that by promoting her story, she will help raise sales for pointe shoes that match different skin tones, so more brands will feel encouraged to start manufacturing them. “Even though the industry is trying to have pointe shoes that match people’s skin tone, they are not available in an easy way. If we go to a store now, I cannot just buy them. You have to order them. It takes six to eight months to get to you, so it’s very chaotic,” she explained.

The Brazilian dancer doesn’t rule out creating her own line of ballet shoes in the future. “I am very inspired by Rihanna creating her makeup line [Fenty Beauty] and I would love to do that. This is one of my dreams,” she said, adding, “I want to create a pointe shoe line that people can go to the store and they can buy them, having some tights and flat shoes as well to match their skin tone. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to bring dancers together and bring diversity to dance.”