Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s tumultuous year continues following the company’s decision to fire all 10 of its dancers this summer, which led to an unprecedented “Do Not Work” order by the American Guild of Musical Artists. This month, DBDT reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board, ahead of a scheduled hearing on multiple allegations of unfair labor practices that the agency found to have merit. Just a few days later, the company lost a critical revenue stream for the upcoming season when the Dallas City Council voted to cut nearly $250,000 in funding.
In the settlement, DBDT agreed to pay $560,000 in lost compensation and damages. DBDT must also apologize to the fired dancers, require training for all its employees, and publish the NLRB’s report for seven days in The Dallas Morning News, among other provisions. (DBDT’s response, prepared by a law firm with expertise in “sustaining robust union avoidance programs,” alleges the NLRB is outside jurisdiction and “unconstitutional.”)
Though the fired dancers were initially hoping to be reinstated at DBDT, the financial settlement accounts for one season’s pay in lieu of reinstatement. “I don’t see Dallas Black as a place that is willing to change,” says former DBDT dancer Terrell Rogers Jr.
Dallas City Council members have called for leadership change at DBDT, adding that failure to do so could impact future years’ funding. “Just as much as we’ve heard how prized of an organization this is, everyone has to work on maintaining their reputation,” says Adam Bazaldua, one of 11 council members who voted in favor of cutting funding (four voted to keep it). “It’s not just given.”
In a statement, DBDT board president Georgia Scaife says the company is “deeply disappointed” by the funding cut. “The City’s decision will undoubtedly negatively affect the Dallas community through its impact on our ability to deliver the programming and outreach that have defined our commitment to this community for decades,” Scaife says.
The terminated dancers agreed to change the name of the Instagram account containing the video that triggered their firing. In a previous interview, DBDT executive director Zenetta Drew said the video violated company policies related to the company’s brand and public image. Griff Braun, national organizing director for AGMA, says that the video in question will remain on the renamed page as an archive of what took place.
The fired dancers are holding a benefit concert, titled Emergence, this week at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas. Tickets sold out in advance. A GoFundMe page to support them has also raised more than $33,000.
“From the dancers’ perspective, they’re very happy that they were able to achieve a settlement that lets them move on,” Braun says. “I’m hoping the board of directors will think long and hard about what they heard at the city council meeting and wake up.”
Drew and Scaife were not available for follow-up interviews. Braun says the NLRB will monitor DBDT’s compliance with the settlement agreement, which includes giving AGMA access to the company’s dancers to negotiate a collective-bargaining agreement.
How the new dancers—who crossed picket lines to audition in late August and defied the spirit of AGMA’s Do No Work order—will work with the union remains a question. “From AGMA’s perspective, we are looking to the organization to see what sorts of changes they are going to make and how we can continue to work with them,” Braun says. “We have to think about that.”
