Dallas Black Dance Theatre reaches settlement, city cuts off funding
- Ikuko
- Dec 13, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Dec 23, 2024
Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT), which fired the whole troupe of its main company in August, reached the settlement with National Labor Relations Board, the company said on 8th December 2024.
DBDT sent a letter with a date stamp of 10th December to the Dallas City Council to notify them of the settlement.
In the settlement, the ten fired company dancers and other three, whose offers of employment were rescinded, will receive over $560,000 from DBDT in back pay, front pay and compensation for damages incurred through the loss of their employment, according to KERA News.
“The settlement came Sunday evening hours before a hearing with the dance company was expected to start on Monday morning,” KERA News said.
However, a few days later, the Dallas City Council voted to cut off funding to DBDT for the next year.
“The Dallas City Council has voted to cut city funding for cultural programming to Dallas Black Dance Theatre and redistribute the roughly $248,000 to other arts and culture organizations for the upcoming year,” The Dallas Morning News reported on Wednesday, 11th December.
DBDT, based in Texas, the United States, responded by issuing a statement on the same day, “We are deeply disappointed by the Dallas City Council’s decision to rescind funding for Dallas Black Dance Theatre community programs.”