All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors.
However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through links in this article.
I first heard ballet dancerIngrid Silvaspeak at the2018 Afro-Latino Festival.
Courtesy subject
In the past four years since I first came across her, Silva has been quite busy.
A key moment came in 2019 when she received herfirst pair of custom-colored pointe shoes.
“[Painting my shoes] was therapeutic at first.
Tali Ramos
I was like, ‘Oh, this is so exciting,'” she shares.
“And then I was over it.
Why didn’t [brands] just create pointe shoes that are my skin color?”
Tali Ramos
“I believe that they weren’t ready for me,” she says.
And that’s the change right there.
It’s what made me who I am," she says.
Tali Ramos
“It’s really important to just also grow outside of my bubble.
I want to be seen as more than just a dancer,” she says.
In my not-so-humble opinion, Silva is the very definition of a Renaissance woman.
Tali Ramos
And we were able to do that," she says.
She also shares that the growth is continuing, which includes an upcoming name change for the organization.
EmpowerHer is just one of the ways she has figured out how to make a change in her communities.
TheBlacks in Balletplatform is another.
In the midst of cultivating a new Instagram community and writing a book, Silva also became pregnant unexpectedly.
Though her pregnancy brought her joy, it also brought her anxiety over the future of her career.
“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?'”
It was just another way she was expected to change her body to fit into the ballerina mold.
She returned to work five months after giving birth.
How does she manage to be a mom, author, owner of two organizations,anda full-time dancer?
“Girl, I don’t know.
[I take it] one day at a time, mostly.”
