What goes around comes around, and management for the Dallas Black Dance Theatre is learning the hard way.
This past May, its dancers voted to unionize with the American Guild of Musical Artists for the usual reasons — because they wanted better working conditions. Terrell Rogers, one of the fired dancers, told KERA News, that everything was controlled at work, from the thermostat in the studio to the way dancers dressed and wore their hair. Rogers said he felt they were being asked to “look more aligned with the white supremacist culture of America.”
Management didn’t like the perspective the dancers were bringing to their company, so instead of working together and listening to their employees’ concerns, they decided to fire all 10 company dancers, including a 14-year-veteran according to WFAA.
On Monday, the Dallas Quality of Life, Arts and Culture committee voted against giving the dance company $248,000 for the 2024-2025 season.
The theater was founded in 1976. For years, they’ve been a staple in the arts community, attracting talent from across the country.
“I think we need to send a strong message to (the theatre),” City Council Member Paul Ridley told WFAA. “I am strongly in support of workers in general and the rights to organize as a labor union and I think that has been damaged by this instance.”
“For Dallas Black, there’s this idea that somehow we have to rid ourselves of anything that would even remotely remind white people specifically of a bad example of what Black people look like,” Rogers, one of the fired dancers, told KERA.
Another council member told WFAA that the National Labor Relations Board is looking into the issue, and Dallas’ city council paused funding over the allegations of “disturbing practices.”
The unionized dancers have been picketing at performances all season and have their next demonstration planned for Nov. 8 in downtown Dallas outside Wyly Theatre.
