Ingrid Silva (born 1988/89) is a Brazilian ballet dancer who currently performs with the

Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...

in New York City.

Early life

Silva was born and raised in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, to a father who served in the air force and mother who was a maid. At age 8, she started ballet through a community out-reach program, then trained at Dançando Para Não Dançar, Theatro Municipal's school, and under

Deborah Colker Deborah Colker (born December 6, 1960, Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian writer, theater director, dancer and choreographer. She was an awardee of the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. Colker was also the movement dire ...

and Pedro Pederneiras.

Career

At age 17, Silva became an apprentice with

Grupo Corpo Grupo Corpo are a Brazilian dance theatre company founded in 1975. The group performs internationally and has been acclaimed by critics. Their routines are particularly known for challenging audience perceptions of ballet and modern dance. Histor ...

. In 2008, at age 18, Silva moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as there were very few opportunities for Black dancers in Brazil. Shortly after she arrived,

's founder Arthur Mitchell invited her to join DTH Ensemble, the junior company that performed when the main company was disbanded. In 2012, when the main company was reinstated, Silva joined the company permanently. Silva has called for greater diversity in ballet. In an appearance on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', Silva noted that she has to color her

pointe shoes A pointe shoe (, ), also referred to as a ''ballet shoe'', is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolv ...

, a process known as "pancaking", as most brands only provide light shade options. In 2020, she appeared in a

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advertisement celebrating

Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...

, narrated by

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

. Later that year, Silva danced '' The Swan'' in

Misty Copeland Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African Americ ...

's fundraiser, Swans for Relief, a response to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the dance community, with funds going to participating dancers' companies and other related relief funds. Outside of ballet, Silva co-founded EmpowHerNY, a platform with different women to take over its Instagram account.

Personal life

In November 2020, Silva gave birth to her daughter.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Ingrid Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers Brazilian ballerinas Afro-Brazilian female dancers 21st-century ballet dancers 21st-century Brazilian dancers Living people 1980s births Year of birth uncertain Dancers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian expatriates in the United States