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Shades Dancewear Unique Colour Match Swatch

Co-founder of the TIRED Movement and Shades Dancewear, Stacey Green, recalls the moment that she first found a make-up foundation that could be matched to her skin tone. She remembers how emotional she felt and how empowered she was to be able to embrace her melanin.

As a former dancer, Stacey spent years unhappy about the dancewear that was available to her that didn’t match her skin. From pink ballet tights and shoes to pale shimmer tights and underwear.

“I started my dance training as a little girl back in 1979, and as a mixed-race student I was one of only two students of colour in a majority White dance school. I immediately knew I was different, but I wanted to be just like all the other little girls in the room and wear pink tights and pink ballet shoes. I became a qualified dance teacher with the ISTD in 1994 and have now been teaching for approximately 30 years, working with children and young people all over the country. I have always been passionate about teaching and embracing individuality, so it is important to me to enable dancers of colour to embrace their ethnicity from the moment they step into their first Baby Ballet class, and then retain their identity throughout their dance training and career.”

Shades Dancewear is the only UK brand to offer four different shades of skin tone in all products across all child and adult sizes. It is important to understand that we, as a brand, not only represent dancers of colour, but also educate others about the history of dance and the influence Black culture has had on defining styles, such as Jazz and Tap. 

We chose to name our shades of skin tone after inspirational pioneers of Black dance, and NOT as the usual food colouring stereotypes such as ‘mocha,’ ‘toffee’ or ‘cocoa.’ This has been so well received by our audience and is something we are enormously proud of.  

Shades Dancewear unique Colour Match Swatch featuring four shades of skin tone - Bojangles (dark brown), Raven (medium brown), Ailey (medium to light brown) and Pearl (light brown)
The Shades Dancewear unique Colour Match Swatch, only £2.99.

In 2020, Stacey co-founded the TIRED Movement (Trying to Improve Racial Equality in Dance) with business partner Laura Grant. TIRED are currently spearheading the innovative 3-year research project, the RED (Representation and Equity in Dance) Research Project. The project is a collaboration between some of the leading Performing Arts colleges in the country, including Bird College and Laine Theatre Arts. Like us, our partnered colleges believe in the importance of racial representation in dance education and are now listing Shades Dancewear on their uniform lists. We would be thrilled to have a place on your uniform list, too. 

Between dance exams, shows, galas, festivals and competitions, Shades Dancewear is the perfect brand for students to find their perfect match of skin tone.  

Shades Dancewear offers you a unique colour match swatch that dancers can order to ensure that each of our products are matched perfectly with their skin.

The impact of being able to do this is something that only our beautiful black and brown-skinned dancers will fully understand.

Don’t delay, order your colour match swatch today!

ORDER NOW

Found your perfect match? Simply scan the QR code on the reverse of your swatch to take you straight to our perfectly matched products!

And don’t forget to join the #IGOTMYSHADE campaign online – you can find us @shadesdancewear on all socials!

Shades Dancewear Ambassadors - a group of diverse dancers, a mix of genders, ages and ethnicities sporting Shades Dancewear, skin-toned dancewear in various shades of brown.
Shades Dancewear Ambassadors as captured by Drew Forsyth.
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