DALLAS — After a heated debate, the Dallas City Council officially approved cutting $248,435 in funding from Dallas Black Dance Theatre for 2024-2025 and redistributing the funding to other arts and culture organizations.
The decision came after the dance company reached an agreement with recently fired dancers in which the company must pay the dancers more than $560,000 in back pay, front pay and damages. Dallas Black Dance Theatre will also be required to issue letters of apology to the fired dancers and train managers.
The tumult started after a group of former DBDT dancers posted to social media that they had been terminated after forming a union in late May and joining the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). The dance company had previously said the dancers were fired over a social media post. After that, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Dallas Black Dance Theatre and the Dallas City Council paused the $248,000-plus previously earmarked for the dance company.
The Dallas City Council voted 11-4 Wednesday to cut the dance company’s funding for the coming year.
Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua also called on the dance company to consider making additional changes.
“We will always be a city that stands with workers, with workers’ rights, with labor,” said Bazaldua. “Union busting is absolutely unacceptable anywhere just as mentioned. It’s definitely not something that’s going to happen in this city.”
Dallas Black Dance Theatre board president Georgia Scaife said they intend to follow the terms of the settlement agreement and will “listen and take appropriate action.”
“In addition to us making the former dancers whole for loss of earnings and other expenses, we will have the NLRB conduct training for all of our employees and revise policies. We will work with AGMA to revise policies applicable to the main company dancers,” Scaife said.
