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Feminists Around the World: Ingrid Silva · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I never told your prediction by her.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Ideo And for this month of activist around the World,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: I thought we would continue down the arts and artivism
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: path by featuring and acclaimed a ballet dancer an activist,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Ingrid Silva. But before we start any have we ever
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: talked about ballet? I don't know, I can't think of it.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Have you ever taken ballet? Did you take ballet?
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Yes?
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Oh you did? You are know a lot of activities
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: as a kid, your preparents has some money. Say this
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  Speaker 2: jealously as I've never had these activities, but you did.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: How long did you do ballet for? Uh?
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  Speaker 1: I think at least four or five years? And I
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: loved it mostly five years. I loved the outfits. That
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: was my favor. That was my favorite.
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  Speaker 2: Ward. Did you like twirling?
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  Speaker 1: I liked twirling. I was honestly very insecure in the
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  Speaker 1: whole thing. But the outfits I liked, and I meant
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: two of my best friends best friends through ballet. One
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  Speaker 1: was my before I moved to where I would say
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  Speaker 1: I grew up. We have a picture together during ballet,
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  Speaker 1: And then, in an odd way, a lot of you
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  Speaker 1: old time listeners know one of my best friends, Katie,
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  Speaker 1: she was also in ballet, and there's a picture we
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  Speaker 1: took before we even knew each other and I was
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  Speaker 1: dancing and she was right there like watching, and it's like.
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  Speaker 2: It was meant to be. It was meant to be
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  Speaker 2: kind of like got to be cute. Yeah, I love
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  Speaker 2: that I did not get to dance ballet. And I
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  Speaker 2: will say, as much as I love dance, ballet is
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  Speaker 2: one of those that I'm like, yeah, I could never
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  Speaker 2: My thick thighs and my thick calves I don't think,
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  Speaker 2: and my weak ink. I twist my ankles like a
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  Speaker 2: nobody's business. Maybe I should have just so that I
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  Speaker 2: drink my ankles because that was bad. But it is
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  Speaker 2: a gift to watch people who are talented in ballet
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  Speaker 2: and also really intimidating because I'm like, el, that takes
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  Speaker 2: a lot, Yes, how do you do that? How do
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  Speaker 2: you do that? Well? Obviously we're going to talk about
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  Speaker 2: one who has done so well and had the natural talent,
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  Speaker 2: and yes, I have never experienced the pains and joy
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  Speaker 2: of ballet, but we know Silva has and not only
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: doing what she loves, but she's made sure to use
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  Speaker 2: her passion to open the doors for others to experience
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  Speaker 2: love and passion of ballet as well. Silva started her
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  Speaker 2: dance journey at the age of eight when she started
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  Speaker 2: attending ballet through a community outreach program in Rio de
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  Speaker 2: Janeiro with her brother, which is where she grew up,
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  Speaker 2: and seeing that she was naturally talented, her teacher encouraged
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  Speaker 2: her to continue to learn more and grow in her
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  Speaker 2: skill and technique, which is what she did, which is
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  Speaker 2: again we've talked about how amazing mentors and people who
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  Speaker 2: who are there and really encourage you, how that can
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: be life changing. Here's another example. So, at the age
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: of seventeen, she became an apprentice at one of the
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  Speaker 2: most prestigious Brazilian dance companies, Grupo Corpo, and she would
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  Speaker 2: go on to continue her training and studies at the
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Central Universitario desacad but would soon move to New York
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  Speaker 2: where she would be invited to join the dtch and
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  Speaker 2: Ensemble at the Dance Theater of Harlem by the founder,
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  Speaker 2: Arthur Mitchell. So she was invited to do the junior company,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: and I believe the company disbanded for a minute, and
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  Speaker 2: then they came back together and in twenty twelve she
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  Speaker 2: joined the company permanently. I believe she is still there
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: today being the main dancer. So anybody who's seen Center
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Stage you know what I'm talking about main dancers. So
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  Speaker 2: in an article she wrote for Dancemagazine dot com, she
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  Speaker 2: says this about her love of dance and ballet. I
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  Speaker 2: have always been very energetic. I remember listening to music
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  Speaker 2: at home with my parents. Dancing came so easily. There's
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  Speaker 2: something in music, any kind of music, that fascinates me.
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  Speaker 2: Since I was eight years years old, dance has been
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  Speaker 2: in a big part of my life. I always say
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  Speaker 2: that I didn't choose ballet. Ballet chose me. I've had
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  Speaker 2: to and I still have to overcome so many adversities
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  Speaker 2: in dance. But one thing I am proud of is that,
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  Speaker 2: no matter what happens, giving up has never been an
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  Speaker 2: option for me. As an artist, you learn how to
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  Speaker 2: develop love, patience, space, and a deep understanding of why
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  Speaker 2: you do what you do. How does dance make me feel?
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  Speaker 2: Is it even a feeling or is it a moment,
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  Speaker 2: a dream, a reality. I only know that I am
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  Speaker 2: myself fully when I am on stage dancing that's where
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  Speaker 2: I feel safe and right at home. I love everything
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  Speaker 2: about that, everything about that. And she has continued to
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  Speaker 2: go down this path no matter that. Adversities are challenges
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  Speaker 2: she's spaced. And in another article she was featured in
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  Speaker 2: for Snowfi dot com, they write this about her and
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  Speaker 2: her experiences. With the support of her family, she was
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  Speaker 2: able to nurture and refine her natural talents, leading to
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity for her to take on new heights to
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  Speaker 2: fulfill her dream. It wasn't an easy journey coming to
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  Speaker 2: New York. She had to leave her family and learn
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  Speaker 2: a new language. All this intense training, persistence, and the
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  Speaker 2: will to make a statement made Ingrid the ballerina that
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  Speaker 2: she is today. So not only did it make her
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  Speaker 2: the success and talented dancer she is today, but also
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  Speaker 2: pushed her to become an advocate for other dancers like her.
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  Speaker 2: So in twenty seventeen, she started the pod, her nonprofit
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  Speaker 2: which quote aims to amplify women's voices and matters regarding
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  Speaker 2: various areas and Foster's female sorority. And this is from
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  Speaker 2: the un dot Org. And she goes on to say
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  Speaker 2: in that article, we are a platform that generates opportunities
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  Speaker 2: for education and network for those aspiring to claim their
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  Speaker 2: own path, and in an interview with The Today Show,
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  Speaker 2: she revealed that she had to color her own point
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  Speaker 2: shoes with makeup to match her skin tone, as it
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  Speaker 2: was not available to her at the time. She had
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  Speaker 2: gone on the show to advocate four more diversity within
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  Speaker 2: the ballet world and has since then become a representative
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  Speaker 2: in the movement. So in an article highlighting her career
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  Speaker 2: and work in Who Whatwear dot Com, they write this
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  Speaker 2: about this moment without a doubt, one of her most
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  Speaker 2: frequently discussed topics in the lack of diverse shades and
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  Speaker 2: point shoes, and the fact that several well known ballet
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  Speaker 2: companies and schools still enforce pink tights and shoes as
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  Speaker 2: a uniform requirement. Due to the glaringly limited amount of
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  Speaker 2: point shoe shade offerings, dancers of deeper skin tones are
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  Speaker 2: often required to pancake them the act of altering the
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  Speaker 2: color of their shoes to match a skin tone for
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  Speaker 2: elongated lines. The Dance Theater of Harlem was one of
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  Speaker 2: the first companies to encourage their dancers to wear tights
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  Speaker 2: and shoes that match their skin tone, departing from the
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  Speaker 2: widely accepted ballerina pink. Silva arrived wearing pink tights and
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  Speaker 2: shoes on her first day for her previous training, but
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  Speaker 2: was strongly encouraged to differ from her natural shit shade.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: So she had these shoes, and it was such a
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  Speaker 2: big deal that they actually took those shoes and were
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: because we know things have changed at the Smithsonian, so
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: dot dot dot someone could feel that in later. For me,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: I guess because I don't want to see it. I
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: don't want to be sad right now. But they were
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  Speaker 2: featured as a display in the Smithsonian National Museum of
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: African American History and Culture because it was such a
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  Speaker 2: significant moment and people understood what was happening and what
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  Speaker 2: needed to change. So the article continues with her saying this,
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  Speaker 2: I felt so much better about the way my lines
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  Speaker 2: looked after starting to wear my brown tys and shoes.
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  Speaker 2: We have to look at ourselves in the mirror for hours,
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  Speaker 2: and being required to wear the wrong shade of things
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  Speaker 2: because my color isn't included is unfair. She says. This
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  Speaker 2: experience inspired Silva to found her own point shoe company
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  Speaker 2: and continue to question a number of the ballet World's
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  Speaker 2: accepted practices, which again, it seems like something that you
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't often think about. But they talk about how the
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  Speaker 2: lines are long, and this creates the illusion and then
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  Speaker 2: it breaks because you're not in an approach tire that
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  Speaker 2: matches you. That's so sad. Why wouldn't that be a
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  Speaker 2: common sense. I feelt that's such an easy change too.
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  Speaker 2: I believe she's also been featured by Nike. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know if she was sponsored by Nike, but featured by
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  Speaker 2: Nike in different ads for her stance and diversifying ballet
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  Speaker 2: and clothing within ballet. So she has done a lot
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  Speaker 2: of work with this specific topic, and she has also
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  Speaker 2: used her platforms in other ways, including advocating for mothers
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  Speaker 2: in the industry. And I feel like that seems like
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  Speaker 2: a pretty common knowledge that they retire young. A lot
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  Speaker 2: of ballet dancers retire young, and from what I understand,
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  Speaker 2: after giving birth or having children oftentimes their sideline. And
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  Speaker 2: she really wanted to change that narrative as well. From
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  Speaker 2: that same article, from what where they write historically female
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  Speaker 2: dancers have been discouraged from continuing their careers during and
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  Speaker 2: after pregnancy. My body changed a lot when I was pregnant.
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  Speaker 2: My center of gravity wasn't the same. I kept dancing
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  Speaker 2: all the way up until my final month, and then
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: after having my daughter, Laura decided to trade my body
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  Speaker 2: so that I could go back to work. It was hard,
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  Speaker 2: silver shares, and she did like the fact that she
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  Speaker 2: did it while she was pregnant.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. And apparently when her recovery time was so short,
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  Speaker 2: so short, and she came right back to the stage,
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  Speaker 2: I can't imagine. Nope, Oh, thank you. So she co
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  Speaker 2: founded Dancers in Motherhood and a little bit about that
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  Speaker 2: organization from un dot org. It is a platform created
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  Speaker 2: by all four women who are professionals and leaders in
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  Speaker 2: the dance world, but who are above all mothers, dancers
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  Speaker 2: and motherhood believe we can unite for a more inclusive
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  Speaker 2: dance world. Unite by sharing our experiences without judgment to
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  Speaker 2: encourage empathy and changes needed to support families in the
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  Speaker 2: dance community. I love that just because you have a
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  Speaker 2: child doesn't mean in your career if you can get
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  Speaker 2: back to it, that is, if you want to, if
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: you want you want to, if you want to. She
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  Speaker 2: has also co founded bla in Ballet, which celebrates dancers
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  Speaker 2: of colors all around, giving opportunity and resources for those
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  Speaker 2: who want to become dancers themselves. They have an amazing
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: video of some dances and her talking and being interviewed
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  Speaker 2: about that organization. It's gorgeous, so you should take some
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: time to watch it. In the Dance magazine dot com
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  Speaker 2: article that she writes, she says this, as a black
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  Speaker 2: Latina immigrant mother and a woman, I carry so much
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  Speaker 2: culture and so many ancestors. I embrace all of them.
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  Speaker 2: They make me unique, and I bring them to my dance,
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  Speaker 2: making it unique. I love all of that. Yeah. And
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  Speaker 2: of course she continues to do exactly that, and she
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: has received a lot of accolades for her work. Just
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: a couple in twenty twenty one, she spoke at the
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  Speaker 2: Harvard University Latina Empowerment and Development Conference and was recognized
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: with the Latina Trailblazers Award. She was featured in The
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Forest Brazil magazine as one of the twenty successful Women
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  Speaker 2: in Brazil in twenty twenty one. So so much more,
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  Speaker 2: and then, of course she's been featured in so many programs.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: She's been the star, she's been the main dancer, and
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: she created so much more. Yeah, go back and look
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: at her works because it's gorgeous. There's a photo from
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  Speaker 2: her article Dance Magazine dot com that's one of the
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  Speaker 2: most beautifully breathtaken photos I've ever seen in ballets. I'm like,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: oh my god, So definitely go and check that out.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, absolutely, and listeners. As always, if you have
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: any thoughts about this or any people you think we
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: should highlight, our organizations you think we should highlight, please
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: let us know. You can email us at Hello at
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Stuffannever Told You dot com. You can find us on
• 11:38
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• 11:40
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• 11:43
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• 11:46
  Speaker 1: you can get wherever you get here. Thanks it's always
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: to our super produce Christ, senior executive producer Maya, and
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: your contributor Joey.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Thank you, and thanks to you for listening.
• 11:54
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