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Repair Shop restores Britain's first black ballerina's shoes

Rachael LewisWest Midlands
BBC/PA A woman smiling into the camera holding ballerina shoes. She is smiling and has a fringe. She is wearing a white top and has a black blazer on. She is in a workshop where they have different antique items on display. BBC/PA
Julie Felix, 67, became a star in the US after she said she was excluded from a ballet company in London

A dancer who became Britain's first black professional ballerina has had her pointed shoes restored on the television programme, The Repair Shop.

Julie Felix, 67, became a star in the US after she said she was excluded from a ballet company in London in the 1970s because of racism.

The dancer then returned to the UK, teaching at the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and has now had her shoes repaired 40 years after her first professional solo performance.

"It took my breath away, because it was something that I really never expected to happen." Felix said when asked about the shoe restoration.

The dancer said it was her late mothers idea to have the shoes restored: "It just turned out that life is busy as we all know it, and I never got the opportunity to get them fixed."

Each episode, The Repair Shop features different people having personal loved pieces restored by expert craftspeople.

"My idea was to have them mounted somehow, just slightly salvaged in some way, but Dean exceeded my expectations," Felix added.

Felix worked as Head of Dance at St Martin's Girls School in Solihull until her retirement, and has since been awarded an MBE.

The Repair Shop airs on 8 April at 20:00 BST on BBC1.

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