The Repair Shop delivers emotional restoration of ballet shoes worn by Britain’s first Black professional ballerina

Britain's first Black professional ballerina had her treasured pointe shoes restored in the latest episode of The Repair Shop.

Julie Felix bought in the ballet shoes she wore for her first professional solo performance four decades ago, which had been dyed to match her skin tone.

During the episode, Felix recalled a moment in the '70s when a London ballet company rejected her due to her race, as she was told: "We can't have a brown ballet dancer in the line-up of swans."

It was that moment that led her to seek opportunities elsewhere, and she joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Seven years later, her ballet company went on stage at the Royal Opera House, where she performed in the pointe shoes.

"These were the shoes that I wore when mum and dad came to see me perform on the stage of the Royal Opera House," Felix shared with experts Lucia Scalisi and Dean Westmoreland.

She added: "And I said, 'Mum, you were right. I’ve made it, and I’m here.' Right here on this table, these symbolise all the work, effort, love and devotion from my mother."

Upon seeing her the restored shoes, Felix became emotional and felt "winded", saying: "I felt like somebody had just kicked me in the stomach. I was breathless for a few seconds. It was genuine tears, it really was. Even now when I'm talking about it, I'm getting a lump in my throat, any time I talk about my mum. I knew that these would be absolutely what she had wanted.

"She asked me, 'Julie, when you're finished with these shoes, please can you get them fixed in such a way that I can put them on a display somewhere in the house as memory of my coming to see you perform at the Royal Opera House'. That really choked me up because I just put my heart on my chest the way I did when I stood on the stage when she was alive.

"I looked up at the seats in the Gods, and I just said, 'Mum, I'm here, I've done it' and it took me back."

Now, the shoes are front and centre in Felix's home, and she sees them "everyday".

"It doesn't take much for my eye to catch them," she said. "And I just think, 'Mum, look at these'. That's what she wanted, and she wanted them in her house so she could see them every day. So, thank you The Repair Shop."

Felix was awarded an MBE in 2024 for her outstanding contributions to dance education and worked as Head of Dance at St Martin's Girls School in Solihull until her retirement.

The Repair Shop continues on Wednesday 15 April at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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