“It was in everyone’s eyes, it was not subtle”: Chloé Lopes Gomes, first black dancer to join the Staatsballett in Berlin, denounces racism

“It was in the eyes of all, it was not subtle”: on France Inter on Saturday May 27, classical dancer and ballet teacher Chloé Lopes Gomes denounces the racism she suffered within the Staatsballett in Berlin. She recounts her story in a book: The Black Swanreleased in May by Stock editions.

She will never forget “that it took too long”. After being the first black dancer to join the Staatsballett in Berlin, Chloé Lopes Gomes says she suffered racist remarks from her ballet mistress, responsible for her career: refusal to give her a white veil because of her skin color, or on the contrary, by requiring her to wear white makeup.

She denounces these actions from the first months

“She was protected by a contract for life”, explains the dancer, 26 years old at the time. Chloé Lopes Gomes, who describes herself as “not shy“, claims to have denounced these actions from the first months to his management:

“I felt very helpless (…) I had a hard time believing that I was being put up with barriers in relation to my skin color and not in relation to my talent, I really experienced it badly.”

Chloe Lopes Gomes

at France Inter

After filing a legal action, Chloé Lopes Gomes’ contract was extended for one year in June 2021, when she was to leave the institution and she received financial compensation of 16,000 euros, after an agreement to the amicable. The acting director of the Staatsballett, Christiane Theobald, then indicated that the dispute with the dancer was “a wake up call” and that the company applied “a policy of zero tolerance against racism and all forms of discrimination”.

“What kept me going”testifies Chloé Lopes Gomes, “It’s first of all love for my family. My mother was a fundamental pillar in my life. She sacrificed herself so that we could evolve within these prestigious institutions, to combine cleaning on weekends and in the evening. She was a real heroine. And I was also aware that I was responsible for my whole family, that I carried at arm’s length”. Three of his brothers and sisters have also done classical dance, his brother Issac Lopes Gomes is part of the Paris Opera ballet.