The renowned Dallas Black Dance Theater opened its 48th season with a showcase of African dance on Friday. It should have been a night of celebration.
But as audience members filed into Moody Performance Hall in Dallas that evening, they were greeted by a group of dancers, musicians, teachers and union activists who denounced the company’s recent decision to fire and replace its main troupe of nine full-time dancers. A giant inflatable rat, a symbol of union protest, glowered on the sidewalk.
“Dallas Black, bring them back!” the demonstrators shouted. “Tear up your ticket, join our picket!”
The protest was the latest salvo in a monthslong dispute between the former dancers and Dallas Black Dance Theater, a troupe with a storied history and a budget of about $4.4 million.
The dancers say they were fired in August in retaliation for voting to form a union. Dallas Black Dance Theater’s leaders deny that charge, saying they were terminated for posting a video that violated company policies on their Instagram account, @dancersofdbdt. In the video, set to the theme from the 1990s sitcom “Family Matters,” the dancers strike goofy poses, twerk, hang from a ballet barre and at one point, pretend to punch each other.
Now the dispute threatens to cloud the company’s new season, with the fired dancers demanding to be reinstated and vowing to form picket lines at coming performances.
Many of the fired dancers have previously worked with their replacements, adding another layer of resentment and unease. Jobs in the dance industry have grown even more precarious since the pandemic, which strained the finances of many arts organizations.
“We want justice,” said Terrell Rogers Jr., 28, who was fired. “The dancers of this company deserve much better.”
Zenetta S. Drew, the executive director of Dallas Black Dance Theater, defended the company’s actions and denied that the terminations were punishment for labor activism. She said she was disappointed the former dancers were continuing their campaign.
“We’re very excited to move forward with the remainder of our season,” she said.
For months, tensions have been rising at Dallas Black Dance Theater, founded in 1976 in part to increase Black representation in the dance industry.
In the spring, the dancers, concerned about work conditions, discussed the possibility of forming a union with the American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents more than 6,500 artists across the country. The company’s managers discouraged them from doing so.
“We do not believe that putting a union between leaders and dancers is in the best interest of anyone at the D.B.D.T., least of all our patrons,” the company’s founder, Ann Williams, wrote in a letter to dancers before the vote.
But the dancers persisted, voting to form a union in May. The company said that it accepted the result and recognized the dancers as union members when it extended employment offers for the 2024-25 season.
Over the summer, the dancers continued their activism, protesting the dismissal of a 14-year veteran of the company. The Guild filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of unfair practices, including not hiring dancers to teach at the company’s academy.
In early August, Dallas Black Dance Theater fired all nine dancers. Drew said the company did so in response to the Instagram video, posted on June 21. She said the company’s leaders had not become aware of the video until late July. On Aug. 17, the company held auditions for replacements.
Drew said that the dancers had inappropriately used the company’s brand, and that the video had harmed the company’s reputation and jeopardized sponsorships. She said the video violated company policies because it depicted unsafe practices, vulgar acts and violent behavior.
“Our dancers are role models,” Drew said. “They teach thousands of students. They introduce dance as African Americans.”
The dancers have pushed back against suggestions that the video was inappropriate.
“It’s playful and harmless,” said Gillian Clifford, 24. “Nothing was as vulgar as they have suggested.”
Even if the company’s leaders found the video objectionable, she added, she was puzzled that they would fire the entire troupe, rather than focus on the few whose actions they deemed inappropriate.
“This is about the union,” she said. “It was very clear from the beginning that they didn’t want us to unionize.”
The Guild has filed a grievance about the mass firings with the National Labor Relations Board, and it has issued a “do not work” order against the company. At protests, the dancers and union activists have denounced the replacement dancers as scabs. The Dallas City Council has said it is looking into the matter.
In the meantime, the fired dancers have been looking for new jobs. Some are struggling to keep up with rent and other expenses.
After handing out fliers recently, Rogers, who joined the company in 2018, said he was surprised that some residents seemed unaware of the dispute.
“We have to tell people, ‘We used to dance,’” he said. “‘We were the people that you were seeing on the stage. We were the artists. That was us.’”
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