#Trending: Dancewear Makers Are Changing the Game for Dancers of Color
May 24, 2016

So this is cool: The dance apparel company Mahogany Blues has joined the ranks of other dancewear manufacturers in creating a range of skin-colored leotards for dancers of color.

The leotards come in three styles—halter, camisole and short sleeve—and four shades of nude. In a particularly awesome touch, three of the leotard shades are named for Disney princesses: Mulan, Jasmine and Tiana. The fourth shade, Amina, is named for a fierce African warrior queen. (Is this a ripple of The Misty Effect? We hope so!)

Mahogany Blues creator Whitney Bracey with dancers from Dallas Black Dance Theater and Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. Photo courtesy of Mahogany Blues.

Other dancewear companies offer leotards (Body Wrappers, Capezio) and tights (So Dança, Bloch, Eurotard, Danskin) in a range of skin tones. And after Royal Ballet soloist Eric Underwood posted an Instagram video last summer of the tedious process of temporarily dyeing his ballet shoes before a performance, Bloch came out with canvas shoes in the color “Eric Tan!”

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