a communication from Councillor Mallon, transmitting notes of the meeting of the Mayor's Arts Task Force

TO: Donna Lopez, City Clerk FROM: Councillor Alanna Mallon DATE: November 14th, 2018 SUBJECT: Submission - Arts Task Force Meeting Notes Please place the attached notes from the second meeting of the Mayor’s Arts Task Force on the City Council Agenda as “Communications and Reports from Other City Officials” for the November 19th meeting. I am also attaching supporting documents from the November 8th meeting, which were given as supplemental materials to both members of the Task Force and members of the public who attended and ask that they be included in the communication as well. Thank you, Councillor Alanna Mallon

Mayor’s Arts Task Force - Meeting Notes Second Meeting of the Mayor’s Arts Task Force Date: November 8th, 2018 Location: Spaceus Harvard Square, 20 Brattle St. Meeting Start: 5:39PM Meeting Adjourned: 7:34PM In attendance as members of the Mayor’s Task Force were: Alanna Mallon, Chair; Liana Ascolese, Aide to Councillor Mallon and Executive Assistant to the Task Force; Jero Nesson, Founder of Artspace; Ellen Shakespear, co-founder of Spaceus; Peter DiMuro, Executive Director of the Dance Complex; Ben Simon, EMF musician; Lisa Peterson, Deputy City Manager; Christopher Hope, co-founder of The Loop Lab; Eryn Johnson, Executive Director of the Community Art Center; Geeta Pradhan, President and CEO of the Cambridge Community Foundation; David De Celis, Public Arts Commission; Jason Weeks, Executive Director of the Cambridge Arts Council; Olivia D’Ambrosio, Bridge Repertory Theater; Kelly Sherman, visual artist; Martha McKenna, Director of the Creative Commons at Lesley University; and James Pierre, artist. Invited as a guest speaker was Malia Lazu from the Urban Labs to facilitate an equity, inclusion, and anti-bias training. Members of the public in attendance were: Catherine Siller, Robert Goss, Alex Lemski, Joe Stohlman, Jesse Moore, Liz Walker, Pat Magruder, Hannah Smith, Jannie Kitchen, Laura Jasinski, Michelle Douglas, Deidre Tao, Matt Coogan, Beryl Lipton, Jon Glancy, and Nili Ohayon. To respect the importance of having an open, honest, and productive conversation about equity, diversity, inclusion, and bias, these notes focus on concepts and general discussion only and quotes are not attributed directly to any individual other than Councillor Mallon during her opening and closing remarks and the facilitator, Malia Lazu. Materials related to this meeting are attached. Councillor Mallon called the meeting to order at 5:39 and made an opening statement. She thanked Task Force member Ellen Shakespear and her co-founder, Stephanie Lee, for the use of this space, which is an amazing space for artists to create and sell their work. Spaceus in Harvard Square is a pop up open until the middle of January. She stated the importance of having a shared common language while working on arts issues and policy. Councillor Mallon referenced a New York Times article that was handed out to all members of the Task Force, citing it as a good example of why we are having this conversation tonight, and how ballet dancers and their ballet slippers are illustrative of bias in the arts. Ballet dancers have had pink slippers because they match the skin color of a “typical” ballet dancer. She cited quotes from the article about the struggles of being a dancer of color. Many of them have been dying their slippers for their whole careers because ‘they didn’t know any different.’ The largest manufacturer of ballet slippers is now going to start selling two more colors. It highlights the important question of who belongs in

the ballet world? Who owns this space and who can walk the stage? We need to think about the simply things that we often take for granted if we have privilege. What are the places where people just don’t know any different and have not thought about these things? Councillor Mallon read a short bio introducing Ms. Lazu, tonight’s facilitator: With over two decades of experience building diverse culture in the political and civic space, Ms. Lazu felt the diversity and inclusion industry was in need of disruption in the private sector. While at MIT, Ms. Lazu launched a space for diversity research and development called The Urban Labs, which has emerged as a boutique multi-cultural agency helping corporations and institutions be more effective in their diversity and inclusion efforts. Over the last few years, Ms. Lazu has experimented in attacking ongoing diversity problems, including working with the City of Boston in the startup space, creating Accelerate Boston, an accelerator for creatives. In its first five years, Accelerate Boston helped launch 20+ minority businesses and continues to support minority entrepreneurs in their search for investment capital. Ms. Lazu opened by stating that it was great to see that Cambridge is taking on an arts task force and that race and equity are being considered upfront instead of as an after the fact. She asked everyone to introduce themselves and use one word to describe their goals for the task force. Words used included: Afrofuturism, community, inspiration, creativity, affordability, vulnerability, access, learning, curating life, making a difference, peace, and diversity. Ms. Lazu stated the big question is “what does diversity mean for the arts task force? What traditions are we upholding, especially in art, which is so subjective?” We need to start a conversation about bias, so we can talk with each other in a comfortable way if bias is creeping up. Ms. Lazu went over ground rules to keep the discussion productive and open. Ms. Lazu used the metaphor of the elephant and the giraffe to illustrate the ways in which unintentional bias can present itself. Ms. Lazu outlined different types of biases and asked Task Force members to present situations in which each type of bias occurs in the art world. The first type is institutional bias: policies and practices of institutions that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes that chronically favor, or put racial or other minority groups at a disadvantage. The task force members gave examples of institutional bias in the art world, such as: -Whose art gets chosen to be showcased -Applications that rely on technological skills and English language proficiency -What different venues allow to be performed and displayed -Certain types of art like graffiti being branded as “not art” -Opportunities available through only social networks -Who and what can get a permit from the City Ms. Lazu asked the group what it takes to be an artist. Many don’t make a lot of money, so this pushes people out before they can ever even break into the field. She brought up the discussion

of “outsider art” on an episode of Jim and Marjorie on NPR, and why certain people or types of art were considered “outsiders” and not just “art.” She stated it’s important to ask questions like what does community art mean? Who is in power? Does this truly represent the community? We need to consider the importance of terminology and the words we use to discuss certain types of art. There was a comment about people not being able to hold more than one idea in their head about what can be “good” and “rigorous” in the art world. Dance - ballet vs. hip hop - was cited as an example. Ms. Lazu stated that the question “who decides?” is important to consider when evaluating structural bias. Structural bias is a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways, to perpetuate inequity. She brought up the example of norms such as the ballet shoes from the NYT article - whose feet even belong in ballet shoes? How do we ensure that norms don’t perpetuate inequity? Who is worthy of exposure and who is worthy of being paid? Ms. Lazu stated that structural and institutional bias are things that “happen.” It’s hard to check ourselves because bias exists in institutions and structures, and we are social beings who operate within the structures given to us. Ms. Lazu then moved the discussion to implicit bias. Implicit bias is also known as implicit social cognition, which refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. This bias is deep, and often begs the question what is presentable and what is not? There is implicit bias in art and within the diversity of neighborhoods in Cambridge. It’s important to check individual implicit bias, and how will our own biases show up? A discussion was had about Central Square and always being “stuck” with murals and graffiti. Before people saw the murals, they were skeptical that they would actually be art. This causes us to ask questions about who owns community art and who should be making decisions about it? Something that one person considers art may not be considered art in another community and vice versa. The group moved into a discussion about exploring why people come to Cambridge and what belonging means. A member made comments about people in Cambridge being self-righteous and too smart for their own good, they don’t want to take a step back and examine themselves, and don’t hold the mirror far enough away from themselves. The ideal collaboration is people coming together with no agenda, but too many people in Cambridge have one. Members made comments about artist live/work space and why artists should be prioritized. There was a discussion about the bias people have towards artists and why they don’t belong - because they are poor by choice, art should be a low paying field, and that artists should just get

higher paying jobs? The fundamental value of art is lower, and art is often an afterthought instead of being integrated. One member commented that there was implicit bias within our group - who we talk to and socialize with before and after meetings, and who we are open to. Also, not everyone wants to speak to all parts of their identity, but we do have to question our own assumptions and push ourselves to make connections even if we have a perceived difference. We are all at different levels of understanding this, some people are at different levels than others. Ms. Lazu brought up the importance of mission statements and whether businesses or arts organizations have diversity language in their mission. There are resources to help in crafting this language, which is a good opportunity to hold a mirror up to ourselves. She referenced a Ted Talk called “Flip It to Test It” to help us challenge the assumptions we make about certain groups and help question biases within ourselves. A discussion was held about public art, and who even has access to spaces in the first place. There are many arts spaces that are off limits to certain demographics, which is why the conversation around public art is so important because it’s so accessible. One member asked who art programs are suggested to and brought up which young people can or cannot break into the field. Only certain people are even given the opportunity to build that network and there are many biases in programming. Many members questioned how accessible public art really is. Many people are unaware that the percent for art program is an ordinance to ensure that people have a right to art. Too many people and programs are unknown to each other - networks do not intersect. A discussion was had about what the word access specifically means. It’s often a broad term but we need to know how and why we are using it. There are many kinds of access and non-access. Is it economic? Feeling like you belong? Physical access? Time for access? The group discussed the way we run our own institutions and accepting a business model vs. the work that artists do no their own administrating on a shoestring budget. Artists have a wealth of information about different ways to work that other institutions should adopt. There are multiple ways to look at a problem. There is something within the nature of the business model and funding for many art projects that is too exclusive. Ms. Lazu led the group in a discussion about the “belonging framework.” She went over the following definitions: Diversity: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements Inclusion: to take in or compromise as a part of a whole or group Belonging: to be a member or a part of Ms. Lazu explained that belonging is an emotional shift - it’s different than including someone to check a box and not caring about they feel about being included. You can’t include people and assume they should go along with the way things are, or the way you want them.

“Diversity is inviting people to the party, inclusion is asking them to dance. But belonging is asking them to help plan the party.” The way you get to belonging is by being curious and not just making assumptions about others. Belonging involves symbols that are shared and largely recognizable, which is hugely important in the arts. Ms. Lazu asked the group how they know they belong in Cambridge. One member said they do not feel like they belong in Cambridge despite being a lifelong resident. The City has changed a lot and they are uncomfortable a lot of the time because of other people’s actions. Others have been talking about this for a long time as well. “Belonging is being absolutely comfortable.” Another member felt like an outsider in a workplace because of not being from Cambridge or living there, despite working and being part of the community. People not being from here is a uniquely New England way because many people stay here long term. There was a discussion about the means testing of belonging, such as people asking questions, testing you, looking for cues as to who belongs. Ms. Lazu asked how public art and art programming can promote a sense of belonging. Artists are the keepers of truth, which is what is important about them. She discussed the MLK memorial proposed for the Boston Common. What is actually the spirit of the arts? There is one choice for a statue of hands, vs. the other choice of building a space where people can protest. Arts can be used as a vehicle of justice. We need to ask ourselves if we are seeking opinions from diverse groups of people, or if we’re in our own echo chamber. We need to be curious and test our own observations. One member talked about art during pride and the proliferation of rainbows that helped them affirm their identity but asked why this feeling of acceptance can’t be present year-round. Another member talked about how belonging can be two ways: the belonging that we feel, and the affirming identity that others give us. The arts are where people have their stories, cultures, and experiences reflected and affirmed, so people need to see their world in art. Everyone wants to tell their story but if there’s not a place for that, they feel like they don’t belong. We have the capacity in this group to be able to create spaces, events, opportunity for diversity in Cambridge. Another member stated that people and buildings in Cambridge have been changing in the predictable ways. The City is gearing towards wealthier people and when you’re one of the only people left, other affirmations of your identity aren’t enough. We have a culture and system of displacement that prioritizes wealthy people, and band aid solutions aren’t enough when systems are rigged against people like artists and other low-income people.

Another member stated that changes have been brought on by gentrification. Cambridge has social justice values, but they don’t always translate. We as a society and culture have not had to grapple with that yet. Ms. Lazu broke the task force members into small groups to discuss three questions amongst themselves: 1. What are some opportunities for the arts task force to promote belonging? 2. What do you think is the biggest challenge the task force has to overcome to be successful? 3. How will we know if we succeed? Group #1 reported back: Opportunities - we can help increase access to grants, applying for permits, helping with administrative issues if you’re an artist who’s not that type of person. They may have self- selected out of this process because they feel it’s a tough space. Is there a possibility of reexamining these structures and policies? We need more advocacy opportunities for artists. It may be helpful to have volunteers or hiring people on a City level to help artists in this regard to provide mentorship. It may be possible to use open studios as a launch point for organizing, creating guilds/associations to help people organize and negotiate. Challenges - creating holistic involvement for all levels of socioeconomic access. The conversation about art in Cambridge should be focused on the critical, relevant, and hard topics. Art is relevant and a necessity, empowering and creating social change. Success - People need to see themselves reflected and connected with larger humanity, engage with art making process. We need to embed artists in the community and create opportunities to do this. Group #2 reported back: Opportunities - we need to ask who is not here, move to where the people are. We need to step up and step back, looking carefully at who currently takes up the most space and how do we balance this? Challenges - we need to have an honest dialogue, sometimes we bite our tongues on issues to not hurt feelings, but we also need to have comfort in both talking and listening. The City is divided, the landscape has changed, there are more racial and class divisions. We also need to have a specific charge and ways to implement our recommendations. Success - we need to have agreed upon outcomes and hold each other accountable. We need to integrate the two Cambridges, making art accessible and having a higher level of awareness. Group #3 reported back: Opportunities - to recognize the importance of arts in the innovation DNA of the City, and to lift up the value of arts to recognize it as intrinsically valuable to the success of Cambridge. We need to also focus on the people who create the arts. Challenges - how do we lift up the arts? How do we value the arts at the level we value business or science? Public art can be inanimate, but how can we actually support the people creating it? How do we combat the marginalization of arts? Why aren’t the arts a part of how we think about public health, inequity, violence prevention, etc.? Group #4 reported back:

Opportunities - everyone that’s here has an opportunity to connect and get to know each other and network. Challenges - funding, reinforcing events that the City has for everyone to enjoy in a more multimedia, multi-pronged kind of way, especially inter-generationally and in more creative and accessible ways. Weather is an issue because we only have 5-6 months to be outside and spend time as a community together. No artists have enough resources so there is often not a lot of unity - do we collectively have the ability to look at the whole landscape in a way that’s not possible with other groups? Success - we have an opportunity to strength the arts community and we are in the process of defining how to do that. We have the potential to evaluate other City organizations and make very concrete recommendations that can be acted on to guarantee and clarify sources of funding. We need a more defined charged to know what our goals and opportunities and resources actually are. Ms. Lazu wrapped up the training and held a short debrief. Councillor Mallon thanked everyone for participating in the training and thanked Ms. Lazu for her facilitation. She announced that the next meeting will take place on Thursday, December 13th from 5:30-7:30. She stated that the meeting location is at the MIT Visual Arts Center - 345 Vassar St., which is accessible by the CT2 bus at the Amesbury St. @ Vassar St. stop. Councillor Mallon adjourned the meeting at 7:34PM.

ARTS TASK FORCE ED&I TRAINING DISCOVER BIAS 101

Open hearts, ears, and minds We are here to learn from one another responsibly Listen to be changed Know your story is only yours Step up...Step back This is a safe space Give people generosity of interpretation Ask questions rather than assume The facilitator will need to move the conversation GROUND RULES

Bias is in our social DNA.   We often under-appreciate how bias affects so many aspects of life.  Many efforts to mitigate bias have not lead to long-term impact.  Planning for bias will help us mitigate its negative outcomes. EVERYONE HAS BIAS?

Institutional Bias: This term refers to the policies and practices within and across institutions that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes that chronically favor, or put racial or other minority groups at a disadvantage.  Structural Bias: A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate inequity. Implicit Bias: Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.  TYPES OF BIAS

Diversity; the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. Inclusion; to take in or comprise as a part of a whole or group. Belonging; to be a member or a part of. BELONGING FRAMEWORK

What are some opportunities for the art task force to promote belonging? What do you think is the biggest challenge the task force has to overcome to be successful? How will we know if we succeed? GROUP QUESTIONS

COMMON TERMS Structural Bias: A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness”or "straight maleness" and disadvantages associated with “color” or "others" to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it has been a feature of the social, economic and political systems in which we all  exist. Systemic Bias: In many ways “systemic bias” and “structural bias” are synonymous. If there is a difference between the terms, it can be said to exist in the fact that a structural bias analysis pays more attention to the historical, cultural and social psychological aspects. Institutional Bias: This term refers to the policies and practices within and across institutions that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes that chronically favor, or put a racial or other minority group at a disadvantage. Poignant examples of institutional racism can be found in school disciplinary policies in which students of color are punished at much higher rates that their white counterparts,in the criminal justice system, and within many employment sectors in which day-to-day operations, as well as hiring and firing practices can significantly disadvantage workers of color.   Implicit Bias: Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.  These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.  Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness.

  White Privilege: White privilege, or “historically accumulated white privilege,” as we have come to call it, refers to whites’ historical and contemporary advantages in access to quality education, decent jobs and liveable wages, home ownership, retirement benefits, wealth and so on. The following quotation from a publication by Peggy Macintosh can be helpful in understanding what is meant by white privilege: “As a white person I had been taught about racism that puts others at a disadvantage,but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage. . . White privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in every day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious.” (Source: Peggy Macintosh,“Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” excerpted from Working Paper #189 White Privilege and Institutional Racism; 1989) Racial Equity: Racial equity refers to what a genuinely non-racist society would look like. In a racially equitable society, the distribution of society’s benefits and burdens would not be skewed by race. In other words, racial equity would be a reality in which a person is no more or less likely to experience society’s benefits or burdens just because of the color of their skin. This is in contrast to the current state of affairs in which a person of color is more likely to live in poverty, be imprisoned, drop out of high school, be unemployed and experience poor health outcomes like diabetes, heart disease, depression and other potentially fatal diseases. Racial equity holds society to a higher  standard. It demands that we pay attention not just to individual-level discrimination, but to overall  social outcomes. Compiled with Aspen Institute and Race Forward

CreditCreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times By Alex Marshall For nearly her whole career, Cira Robinson has — like many ballet dancers of color — performed a ritual: painting her point shoes to match her skin.

She did it first in 2001, when she was 15, at a summer program with Dance Theater of Harlem. The company said her shoes needed to be brown, not the traditional pink, but she couldn’t find any in stores, so she used spray paint. “It made them crunchy and just … ew,” she said in a telephone interview. When she joined Dance Theater a few years later, she started using makeup instead. “I’d go to the cheapest stores and get foundation,” she said, the kind “you’d never put on your face as it’d break you out. Like, $2.95 cheap.” She’d go through five tubes a week, sponging it onto 12 to 15 pairs of shoes — a process known in ballet circles as pancaking. It took 45 minutes to an hour to do a pair, she said, because she wanted to make sure the foundation got into every crevice and covered every bit of ribbon. ADVERTISEMENT Did she find these steps annoying? “I didn’t know any different,” Ms. Robinson, 32, said. But now, Ms. Robinson — a senior artist at Ballet Black, a British dance company — is no longer obliged to do so. In October, Freed of London, which supplies her shoes, started selling two point shoes specifically for dancers of color: one brown, the other bronze. Freed is not the first firm to make point shoes for dancers of color — the American company Gaynor Minden has been producing some more than a year — but the new shoes from Freed, a large supplier in the ballet world,

highlight one of the stranger rituals that dancers of color have to perform. Alexandra Hutchinson of Dance Theater of Harlem. Freed of London started selling two point shoes specifically for dancers of color: One brown, the other bronze.CreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times It’s also a reminder that black dancers — especially female ones — are still a rarity in ballet. They remain barely represented at the top of the field, despite some signs of change and an increased awareness of the need for diversity at the schools feeding professional companies. Shoes aren’t the only costuming reminders of the lack of diversity in ballet. In September, Precious Adams, a first artist at English National Ballet raised the issue of pink tights. “In ballet people have very strong ideas

about tradition,” she told London’s Evening Standard newspaper. “They think me wearing brown tights in a tutu is somehow ‘incorrect.’” ADVERTISEMENT “But I want to look my best onstage. I’m not colorblind, and I think it ruins the line of my body.” Dancers, though, cannot do whatever they like, Ms. Adams added. Directors decide on outfits. And often uniformity is a goal. Dancers in the corps, particularly, have to blend in with the group. Ms. Robinson of Ballet Black said dancers of color can’t always wear flesh- colored shoes or tights, if it would make them stand out. Ingrid Silva of Dance Theater using makeup to dye her point shoes. “A lot of people complain: It’s a long process, and it’s expensive," she said.CreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times Image

Ms. Silva transforming her shoes.CreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times Image

The finished product.CreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times She said she had seen a soloist at the English National Ballet wear brown tights and shoes, when everyone else was in pink — “but she was a soloist.” (It works differently at Dance Theater of Harlem and Ballet Black, which are predominantly made up of people of color.) “We want to shake up tradition a bit,” Ms. Robinson said, “but some things you can’t.” Still, the new shoes have been welcomed. “This isn’t about shoes, this is about who belongs in ballet and who doesn’t,” said Virginia Johnson, the artistic director of the Dance Theater of Harlem, in a phone interview. “It’s a signal that the world is open to you.” ADVERTISEMENT

Point shoes were invented around 1820, said Anna Meadmore, a dance historian and curator of the Royal Ballet School collections. They contain a rigid “block” made of glue and fabric at the front that allows the female dancer to dance on point — on the tips of her toes. The shoes were originally white to help dancers appear ghostly — the romantic ideal in the early 1800s was for women to be ethereal — but pink came to dominate as a way to approximate European dancers’ flesh. Shoes should blend in with the leg, Ms. Meadmore said, and not “break the line.” Image Dance Theater's wardrobe master mixes paint to match dancers' skin tones.CreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times Point shoes are made individually for dancers by specialist makers, and dancers always have favorite suppliers. Most dancers spend time customizing their shoes, whatever their skin color. Some who like them soft will bash them against walls repeatedly, or crush them. Others will add glue to keep them stiff. They also have to sew ribbons into every shoe so they can be tied to the foot, and sometimes add elastic for extra hold.

But the painting rituals are a step beyond. (Male dancers don’t traditionally wear point shoes, but they, too, have to paint their shoes if they want them to match skin tone.) Ms. Johnson said she wore pink shoes when she started dancing in the 1950s and thought nothing of it until the ’70s when Arthur Mitchell, a founder of Dance Theater of Harlem, decided his dancers should wear shoes and tights to match their skin. Ms. Johnson then started using makeup to paint her shoes. “It was quite wonderful to be onstage and just to be myself, 100 percent the color I was,” she said, “one line, one shape, a color that has integrity.” She recalled that Capezio supplied brown shoes for Dance Theater for a short time, and at one point later the company’s dancers dyed their shoes with a product meant for bridal pumps. “Evangeline Shoe Dye,” Ms. Johnson said. “I haven’t thought about that name in years.” But since 2012, most members paint their shoes with acrylic paint, Ms. Johnson said. Dance Theater’s wardrobe master mixes paint to match each dancer’s skin tone. Some dancers in the company still use makeup. Ingrid Silva has posted videos on YouTube showing how she pancakes her shoes to aid young dancers. “A lot of people complain: It’s a long process, and it’s expensive,” Ms. Silva said. “The brand I use — Black Opal’s ebony brown — is $11 a bottle, and with that I can do three shoes.” She goes through an average of two pairs of shoes a week, meaning she used to spend $770 a year on makeup for shoes, a significant sum given dancers’ low pay. (Black Opal recently started supplying her free of charge.)

Ms. Silva, who is from Brazil, said the new shoes for dancers of color were a positive development, but more tones were needed. She can’t use the Freed shoes because they are not her color or style, she said. This echoes calls in the beauty world for wider ranges of foundation to reflect skin tones. (Last year, Rihanna introduced Fenty Beauty, a makeup line that offers 40 foundation colors, to meet that demand). ADVERTISEMENT Shoes are also just one issue, Ms. Silva said. “There’s so much more the dance world has to learn,” she added, “starting from companies hiring more dancers of color.” Image CreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times Olivia Boisson, a corps dancer at New York City Ballet, agreed that shoes are a small issue. She normally wears pink ones, she said, and is too focused on her dancing to worry about whether they affect how she looks onstage. But, Ms. Boisson said, ballet is in a period of “checking itself,” especially following #MeToo revelations. (Peter Martins left City Ballet in January after allegations of physical and sexual abuse.) In such a moment, diversity issues are being discussed far more openly than even a year ago. “We’ve talked about, ‘Are you feeling uncomfortable in these pink tights and pink shoes?’ Before we didn’t talk about things like that at all,” she said. Freed could not estimate how many of its new shoes it expects to sell. “We have to be realistic,” said Sophie Simpson, its ballet company sales manager. “If you look at most companies, the number of black or mixed- race dancers is small. We hope that’ll change.” ADVERTISEMENT Ms. Robinson of Ballet Black was involved in the shoes’ development, testing them for wear and their shades. “This is the first time in my career I haven’t had to do something to my shoes,” she said.

“I can just put them on and dance. I know that many people will be like, ‘O.K., it’s just a shoe.’ But a ballet dancer loves their shoes like a basketball player loves their basketball. They’re mine. They’re a piece of me.”