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<\/p>\nOn Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will vote on restoring funding that was cut from Dallas Black Dance Theatre last December.<\/p>\n
The dance company could receive $225,000 for cultural programming. <\/p>\n
Last year, $248,000 in funding was cut in response to Dallas Black Dance Theatre\u2019s settlement with the National Labor Relations Board. The agency found merit to dozens of unfair labor practice charges made against the company, including the firing of dancers due to union efforts.<\/p>\n
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By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n Council member Paul Ridley said he\u2019s in support of returning the funds contingent on the dance company\u2019s commitment to making changes. <\/p>\n \u201cI think that it\u2019s appropriate to start a grant for them again on the promise that they will follow through on the recommendations of the task force that looked at their governance and labor policies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Council member Gay Donnell Willis said in a statement that she\u2019s pleased DBDT unanimously accepted all of the taskforce\u2019s recommendations. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see the DBDT have a successful relaunch, and I know that seeing the city\u2019s support is meaningful to other donors,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Willis said the dance company\u2019s board should keep the Office of Arts and Culture updated on their progress. <\/p>\n Dallas Black Dance Theatre did not respond to a request for an interview or comment. <\/p>\n In March, the dance company formed an advisory stakeholder task force to review the company\u2019s policies, governance and engagement with employees. In September, the task force provided recommendations, which DBDT\u2019s board of directors unanimously accepted.<\/p>\n The recommendations include finding a new executive director, setting term limits for board members, updating the employee handbook, social media and public relations policies, and increasing engagement with company alumni.<\/p>\n On Oct. 20, the City Council\u2019s Quality of Life, Arts and Culture committee discussed concerns about holding Dallas Black Dance Theatre accountable to making changes. <\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n In the meeting, Lee McKinney, treasurer of DBDT\u2019s board of directors, told council members the dance company is committed to making changes recommended by the task force. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have no desire to hold on to old things. We are excited about the recommendations that the task force has made. We are convicted that what they\u2019ve said to us are things we need to do, and we are committed to making sure those things happen,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n During the October meeting, McKinney also said the search for a new executive director to succeed Zenetta Drew, who has been in the position for nearly four decades, will begin in January and is expected to take two to three months. McKinney assured council members changes to leadership \u2013 including the executive director, board president and board members \u2013 would occur before the end of the season next May. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are willing to give progress reports, whatever is needed to get the community, the city and all the public aware that change is underway at Dallas Black Dance Theatre,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n In a memorandum from DBDT\u2019s board of directors to the city council, the dance company noted other changes being made at DBDT including: replacing board President Georgia Scaife on Jan. 1, establishing term limits for the board of directors, and updating bylaws and the employee handbook. <\/p>\n In the future, Ridley said the City Council can use the renewal of funding to hold the company accountable. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can look at their progress, the initiation of the reforms that the task force recommended,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if they backslide, then we can factor that into our decision on next year\u2019s allocation.\u201d <\/p>\n Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.<\/p>\n This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access\u2019 journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will vote on restoring funding that was cut from Dallas Black Dance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[826,822,6570,102,21397,105,104,103,6569],"class_list":["post-45476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-arts-access","tag-arts-district","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-black-dance-theatre","tag-dallas-city-council","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Moderator](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762896671_40_WJPHE2J5QVHXDIWDSOY6IK3SXM.jpg\")
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