- Female dancers quit Diljit Dosanjh's show citing poor pay and treatment issues
- Limited costume sizes affected dancer selection, raising body size concerns
- Selected dancers worked two 12-hour days for $120, covering some expenses
Punjabi sensation Diljit Dosanjh is currently surrounded by all kinds of controversies. Following the debate over his citizenship, a questionable video started making rounds on social media, where a group of female dancers shared the reason behind quitting working for the singer.
From raising concerns about pay, costume requirements, body shaming, and overall the way dancers were treated during performances, Diljit Dosanjh was brought back into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The video showed a group of women from Madhuban Performing Arts sitting down together to talk about the issues.
The video opened with the women addressing the dancing community. “Dear dance community, we just quit the Diljit show, and here's why: It's truly not about one show or one artist; it's about the greater good of the dance community," one of them said. She further explains that when they accept poor standards, it harms the community rather than progressing it.
Another woman in the video began sharing her experience by talking about the costume selection process and shared that many dancers were affected because sizes were limited. “There were barely any sizes past medium, and that caused some of our dancers not to be chosen," she said, questioning why body size should matter in dance auditions. “There is a huge assumption out there that bigger people can't dance, let alone move. Why should the costume choose the dancer? Why can't it be the other way around?" she asked.
One of them revealed that she was asked to share her Instagram handle after submitting audition videos. “For me, if you are asking for my account, you are asking to look at what I look like, my size, my hair, and my face. I think that should be based on our dance skills and our technicalities and what we do." Another woman from the group went on to talk about the work schedule and compensation that were offered to selected performers.
“The ones that did get selected were asked to put in two 12-hour days for rehearsals and the show and also incur some personal expenses for costuming needs, all for being paid $120," she revealed, saying that the amount did not fairly match the time, energy and expenses that they had to put in. One of them also shared that communication around rehearsals created extreme stress and confusion among the dancers. “There was so much lack of information regarding rehearsal times, regarding the dances we were supposed to do, which ended up creating so much anxiety as a dancer that I didn't feel safe going up on a stage like that."
Another woman reflected on the fact that respect and a safe environment matter deeply to artists. “As an artist, I prefer a safe space, always. And we, we did a lot of big shows here, and we received a lot of respect. So, respect and safe space. We didn't feel that here,” she shared. The women ended the video by saying, “This was a really hard decision for us to make, and it made us realise that we are conditioned to accept the wrong things and the wrong standards and set them for each other. We can be each other's biggest support if we stand by each other.” They are further urging the dance community to stop undercutting artists like themselves and realise that the respect that big artists get, dancers like them deserve that too.
Soon after the video was posted, it received a huge response from social media users and dance communities around the world. “Thank you for speaking up because there are beautiful dancers; they have probably lost confidence because of these standards and treatments from people who claim to support art and artists,” one wrote.
“Time for us dancers to stand up,” another suggested. “Proud of each one of you women for speaking up!” someone else added.
“It takes courage and grace to speak out about this and not be a silent bystander. It's easy to convince yourself that this is all okay for the sake of a ‘grand opportunity', but at the end of the day, we dancers need to set a standard for our values and efforts,” one of them wrote. Neither Diljit Dosanjh nor his team has responded to the allegations so far.
