This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 Pink Issue of Showstopper Magazine.
Ballet is immersed in pink. #Balletcore Pinterest boards are full of soft pinks and dainty Parisian scenes, and ballet-inspired athleisure lines love to include peony as a staple shade. The classic tutu is worn by dancer in pink tights (and the classic tutu may be pink as well). Pink and ballet have been intertwined for centuries, but understanding why is more complicated than you might think.
Ballet Costumes Over Time
Ballet costumes were not always for the stage. When ballet first rose to popularity in Renaissance France, the dances were entertainment for large parties, and dancers moved across the floor in front of court audiences who could see them from all sides. Tights were not worn, and the tutu hadn’t been invented yet. Instead, dancers were dressed for the balls and masquerades they performed.
Are Tights “Unseemly”?
In the late 18th century, ballet moved into its Romantic period. Dance was part of the opera now, and the trend was to highlight the physique of the dancers as much as the stories they told. Male dancers wore tights to move freely. Ballet Met reports that the costume change didn’t happen for female dancers, and the Paris Opera even prohibited female dancers from wearing them.
Some rebellious ballerinas wore tights anyway, shortening their skirts not to scandalize the audience but to increase their range of motion as male dancers had. The tights were light pink to give the illusion of a bare leg. Scandalous!
Romantic Ballet: A Limited Color Palette
As Romantic ballet moved toward tights, the light pink color became more and more popular. A lack of color was common. The “Ballet Blanc” features white costumes and white elements. Delicate white flowers, white swans, and snowy scenes are easy to imagine in the context of ballet, but they hardly capture the range of color and storytelling that preceded them or have come since.
The Romantic Period’s limited color palette secured pink’s place in ballet. For hundreds of years, the performers at court ballets, in the opera, and later in major ballet companies were white, so the light pink tights continued to align with the illusion of skin until the reason for the color choice faded from many dancers’ minds entirely.
What Defines Uniformity?
For many, light pink was a uniform. Pink ballet shoes and tights were part of the look for lines of dancers that were expected to be synchronized, but modern perspectives on ballet have changed. The delicate pinks that we know are staples in dance, but they did not represent the diversity of dance.
Today, many companies favor styling leotards, skirts, tutus, and hair to curate visual experiences that tell stories and show off each dancer’s skills and physique. This doesn’t mean that pink is fading from dance. It is hard to imagine ballet without rosy hues, but like ballet’s evolution from masquerade attire to dance costumes with tights, the role of pink has transitioned to something new.
Ballet for Everyone
Dancers of color have been pioneering changes in the dance world over the last century. This includes access to roles in esteemed companies, but it also means reminding the dance world of the origins of ballet and its costuming. Light pink secured its place as a costume staple, and many forgot the relationship between the color and skin tone.
In 1974, Llanchie Stevenson of the Dance Theatre of Harlem pointed out that pink tights made her look less uniform. With pink tights, her legs looked separate from her arms and upper body. This set a new standard for DTH. Flesh-toned tights that matches each dancer’s skin tone became the norm. Unfortunately, this was not true of all ballet companies.
Today, dance companies and dancewear retailers work to create diverse ranges of dancewear to bring dancers to the stage as themselves, not just the color they wear. Pink has a vibrant history in ballet, and it will always have a role in our understanding of the dance. But now, it is a color to celebrate as part of the palette, like the muted greens and deep blues we often see on stage. It is no longer a way to define the dancers on stage or the uniformity of a company.
Inclusive Places to Shop
Shades
Shades focuses on providing skin-tone dancewear, including ballet socks, convertible tights, and shoes, to ensure dancers of all complexions feel represented.
Nude Barre
Nude Barre celebrates all skin tones and offers dance tights and underwear in tons of shades. Their mission? For everyone to find their perfect shade of “nude.”
Capezio
Capezio is a dancewear legend, now offering everything from ballet tights to shoes in a range of skin tones, so dancers of all backgrounds can feel comfortable and confident.
Other inclusive stores: Gaynor Minden, Bloch, So Danca, and Mirella
