SF dancers celebrate pointe shoes finally available in different shades

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Seventeen-year-old Alaja Badalich has been dancing since she was two years old and dancing classical ballet since she was 10 years old. A regular on the stage, though she says she never quite felt she fit in.

"I think for me being on stage and having a tutu on and having the straps not match my skin tone and then have the tights not match my skin tone and then have the shoes but more like my upper body is my skin tone was like not fun for me because everyone else had it," said Alaja Badalich.

She's not alone, 19-year-old Imajin Lias understands. For years she struggled to make her pink pointe shoes more closely match her skin tone.

"It throws it off completely because when you're on stage people just go directly to the foot," said Lias.

Both women are students in the Alonzo King Lines Ballet Training program in San Francisco.

For the first time, shoe companies are offering pointe shoes in different shades.

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"It's a simple thing but really it's a big deal," said Badalich.

The new shoe options will also save dancers time and money.

Lias described the painstaking process of "pancaking" her pointe shoes.

"I buy like liquid foundation, I buy at least two bottles and then I get like the makeup swabs I'll sit for like maybe 2-3 hours just painting my shoes," said Lias.

When pointe shoes match a dancer's skin tone it creates a long line that's aesthetically pleasing to the audience.

"I think it's more inclusive and it gives dancers of color a bigger voice in the dance world," said Badalich.

Tights in different shades have been available for some time, but not pointe shoes. A change these dancers say is a step in the right direction.