Dancers have unions. There’s also a whole slew of other associations and organizations that have been created to protect our rights as far as working conditions, pay and health coverage. I belong to one union and I still haven’t decided whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Like most bureaucratic organizations – their intentions are good – but they’ve managed to categorize their mandates and services to the point that if you don’t fit into one of their predetermined boxes – they’re pretty useless. Pretty sad considering that dancers on the whole do not stick up for themselves due to their early training and the hierarchy system of large companies. It’s not a democracy. It’s a monarchy and the director is king (or queen). It’s pretty hard to argue a wrongful dismissal when much of the criteria for which you are measured is subjective. How do you counter being dismissed when the reason is that you don’t inspire the choreographer anymore? Throughout a dancer’s life, someone else is the boss: the teacher, the rehearsal master, the choreographer, the director. Make them mad and you’re out.
One of the first companies that I worked for had an informal union – a group of dancers who would represent the entire company and present their problems and concerns to the director. It was a noble idea and I was appointed to the representative body of three. I felt honored. And then I changed my mind. A problem arose among the ranks that had to be addressed with management. The three representatives met a day earlier to go over points to be made with the director – general demands and resolution options. We covered everything. We agreed on our strategy and I was to be the spokesperson. The next day, we went to the director’s office and I presented our position. My two fellow representatives upon being questioned directly by the director, backed down and left me dangling…yep…out there…in the void…by myself. Not only did they not back me up, they actually told the director that I was the only one who felt this way and that the rest of the company did not. So much for united fronts. I never represented this group again.
While working with another company in New York, I was elected as the union representative. This time I wasn’t worried about not being backed up. The union that we belonged to was a powerful one – with the ability to close down shows across the United States. That’s what I call a group with clout. While on tour in Georgia, the dancers had a problem with their rehearsal pay (or more specific – the lack of rehearsal pay) and I was told to contact the union office in New York. Now when you are a union representative, your opinion is not the one that counts. It’s your job to represent others. If there is a complaint – you are to take it through the procedures until there is a resolution. I called New York and after they briefly threatened the director with closure of the show, they informed me that the show would continue – however – I was to report to the union office immediately upon return to New York to formally file the complaint. Back in New York, I was shown into a small cubicle. The union officer arrived with a thick file. He threw it on his desk, sat down, opened it and said, “OK, now what has she done?” Apparently my current director had had a long and tumultuous relationship with the union. I filed the complaint and returned to the studio for the afternoon rehearsal. Upon arriving at the studio, I was called into the director’s office. “If you ever become the union rep again, I will personally see that you never work again in this city.” You know – I probably should have filed a complaint with the union but I decided to do it her way. I quit as union rep.