“Equity will fight for you. I’m proof of that.”
In 1987, 17-year-old dance student Joanne Bernard went to see a performance by the Phoenix Dance Company in Leeds and fell instantly in love.
"Phoenix came from Chapeltown, a predominantly Black, Caribbean community in Leeds. It’s got a really strong, rich heritage," says Joanne. "That first time I saw them, what I loved was that they were using reggae music. I’d never seen anything like that before. I thought, ‘Whoah! So there is space for me. This isn’t just a white sector.’ Looking back, that Phoenix performance really anchored me in my determination to be a dancer."
Teenage Joanne would have been bursting with pride to think of her future self working for what’s now known as Phoenix Dance Theatre. She joined the company as Rehearsal Director in April 2020. What does her role involve?
“The choreographers come into the studio and create work with the dancers,” says Joanne. “After that, it’s my job to make sure the work stays as the choreographer intended, and that the dancers grow in performance as we take the show on tour. I take care of the dancers’ wellbeing, setting up physio appointments and everything in between. I liaise with the marketing person, the education team and the office staff. I’m a bit like an island with lots of tentacles going off in different directions.”
Dancing through the pandemic
Starting her new job during the first lockdown meant that Joanne initially had to get to know the dancers over Zoom and WhatsApp.
Later, when she began commuting to the studio from her home in Manchester, Leeds ‘was like a ghost town. I was often the only person in the train carriage.’ She and the dancers were often alone at Phoenix HQ – the rest of the company mainly worked from home.
Joanne worked all through the pandemic and played a key role in Phoenix’s 40th birthday tour, which kicked off in late 2021. So she was shocked and angry when, in May 2022, she was told that she and the dancers were going to be ‘laid off’ while the company took an eight month break from performances so that it could ‘restructure and strategise’.
£100 a month
Joanne and her colleagues were not being made redundant during this ‘creative pause’. She reports that they were offered £100 per month (£50 statutory pay from the government and an extra £50 from Phoenix as a ‘gesture of goodwill’). They would be able to go and work with other organisations, but they would still be contracted to Phoenix.
“If they needed me to come back at any point, for example to hold auditions for new dancers, that would have to be my priority,” says Joanne. “So whatever else I’d be doing to pay my bills and so forth, I’d have to let that go and return to Phoenix.”
How did that feel? “My grandmother used to say, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.’ And the way it was done was really hurtful and inconsiderate. We were given less than a month’s notice.”
It was at this point that Joanne became a member of Equity, the performers’ union that several Phoenix staff were already part of. “I wish I’d joined sooner,” Joanne says. “Equity was amazing.”
Support from the union
Equity swung into action, with regional officer Dominic joining meetings between staff and management and regional organiser Ellie getting together with the dancers to discuss tactics.
At one point Dominic had a meeting with myself and all the dancers and he said, ‘Even if you're not members of Equity, I can advise you and support you’. Him and Ellie were great. They let us know that ‘lay off’ was a docklands or factory term – it’s not used in the creative sector.
A social media campaign raised public awareness of the dispute, with over 2000 people signing a Megaphone petition in support of Joanne and her colleagues. Many of the signatories were in the creative sector or were locals who knew and loved Phoenix.
On May 23rd, around 100 delegates at an Equity conference in Leeds marched from their hotel to Phoenix HQ. Waving purple Equity banners and placards emblazoned with ‘Save Phoenix dancers’ jobs!’, they staged a noisy protest on the steps, calling for Joanne and her colleagues to be given their jobs back.
Chants of ‘Hey hey, ho ho, don’t let the dancers go!’ rang out across the street, grabbing the attention of passers-by while Dominic handed the petition in at reception.
That afternoon, management reversed its decision to ‘lay off’ Joanne and three colleagues. But for Joanne, victory hasn’t tasted particularly sweet.
“Yes, I’m getting my salary and I’m not ungrateful,” she says. “But it should never have reached the point where public embarrassment was the reason they took us back. We should never have been treated that way.”
Standing up and speaking out
The solidarity Joanne experienced through the dispute has got her fired up. Throughout her career she has encountered many young dancers who aren’t happy with their terms and conditions but won’t speak up because they’re scared of losing their jobs. Joanne wants to get more involved in the union movement so that she can better support those dancers.
I want to let young dancers know that they do have a voice. My grandmother also used to say, 'If you don't stand up for something, you'll sit down for everything.' As much as it’s really uncomfortable putting your head above the parapet – especially if you’re a line manager like me - you have to stand up.
She’s now on a mission to get more people to join the union.
“I’m telling young dancers, ‘Equity will fight for you.’ I’m proof of that. The result is that one the biggest dance companies outside London had to retract because Equity stood with us, loudly and proudly.”
Since this article was written, Joanne has resigned from her role at Phoenix Dance Theatre and is looking forward to starting a Masters in Dramaturgy.