Dallas Black Dance Theatre forms advisory stakeholder taskforce

DALLAS — Four months after Dallas City Council voted to cut nearly $250,000 in funding from Dallas Black Dance Theatre (DBDT) for 2024-2025 and redistributing the funding to other arts and culture organizations, the DBDT Board of Directors announced it has formed an advisory stakeholder taskforce.

In a press release, officials said the taskforce’s creation is part of their “commitment to grow, improve and guarantee that DBDT remains a pillar of cultural enrichment in North Texas and beyond for generations to come.”

The task force will have 17 members and is co-chaired by Jennifer Scripps, President & CEO of Downtown Dallas, Inc. and Shawn Williams, Vice President of Public Affairs at Allyn.

“We are honored to lead a taskforce that’s about an institution’s commitment to excellence and responsibility,” said Scripps and Williams. “Our mission is to listen, learn, and recommend changes for the DBDT to remain a vibrant cultural asset with the highest standards of integrity.” 

According to the release, the advisory stakeholder taskforce will work with DBDT leadership to review the organization’s policies and practices, propose changes that foster an accountable environment, and put in place safeguards to prevent future concerns related to talent. 

In December, former DBDT dancers who were fired earlier in the year were paid a $560,000 settlement after the dance company and the dancers had a months-long saga about whether or not they were fired for unionizing. 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 2024 and joining the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). The dance company, though, had previously said the dancers were fired over a social media post.

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and the Dallas City Council paused the allocation of about $248,000 originally earmarked for the dance company for 2024-2025. What the settlement agreement would mean for the funding earmarked for Dallas Black Dance Theatre remained unclear.

As part of the settlement, Dallas Black Dance Theatre agreed to pay the fired dancers $565,085 in back pay, front pay, interest, excess tax, mileage, expenses, and damages, send letters of apology to the dancers, allow for training for Dallas Black Dance Theatre managers and supervisors, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

Also as part of the settlement, Dallas Black Dance Theatre said it would notify the Texas Workforce Commission that it won’t try to prevent dancers from receiving unemployment benefits, and must publish a seven-page NLRB notice explaining employees’ rights.

Serving in capacities based on experience and expertise, the new taskforce will begin its work immediately and focus on governance, branding, fundraising and stakeholder engagement, officials said. 

Here is the rest of the 17-member task force, in addition to Scripps and Williams: 

• Harrison Blair, President & CEO of Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce 
• Kardal Coleman, Chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Party 
• Levi Davis, Former Assistant City Manager of Dallas 
• Ella Goode-Johnson, Former Chair of City of Dallas’ Arts and Culture Advisory Commission
• Quodesia Johnson, Consultant, Equity Specialist and Racial Healing Practitioner 
• Mary Pat Higgins, President & CEO of Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
• Steve Idoux, President & CEO of Lockton Dunning
• Derryl Peace, Former Director of Alumni Engagement at East Texas A&M University 
• Andy Smith, Executive Director of Texas Instruments (TI) Foundation 
• Miguel Solis, President at The Commit! Partnership
• Mary Suhm, Former City Manager of Dallas 
• Mark Thompson, Senior Vice President at Visit Dallas
• Victor Vital, Global Chair of Trial Practice at Haynes Boone 
• Carla Wattley, Director of Dance Studies at Lancaster ISD
• Elizabeth Wattley, President & CEO of Forest Forward