Phillips calls for pay shake-up for West End dancers

Published Tuesday 3 June 2008 at 15:20 by Matthew Hemley

Leading choreographer Arlene Phillips has criticised pay levels for dancers in the West End and has called for a new wage structure to be implemented that reflects performers’ experience.

Phillips, who is currently choreographing a new musical based on the film Flashdance, said dancers working in West End musicals with years of experience behind them should be paid more than those just starting out in the industry.

She argued that while dancers who spend years working on the same show get increases in their pay, that wage then reverts “back to square one” when they accepted new contracts on different shows.

She said: “If you stay in a show, you get a percentage rise every year, that’s what they do. They give you so much for staying a second year or third year. But as dancers get older and older, every time they go to a new show, they start off at square one again. It is quite hard for them. There does not seem to be any provision for experienced dancers as they get older. It worries me.”

Phillips said she had concerns that she might struggle to find experienced West End dancers to join a new show, if producers did not offer a pay incentive to leave a long-running production.

She recalled an experienced dancer from Grease with whom she wanted to work with on Saturday Night Fever, but who had doubts about reverting back to smaller pay on a new contract.

Phillips’ calls for better pay come after Equity choreographer councillor Teri Scoble announced she would not be contesting her seat on the union’s council because the organisation was no longer democratic, and certain issues she had raised had not been dealt with.

One of her main concerns was dancers’ pay, which she said had been the subject of a motion she put forward to council, but which had not been dealt with by Equity.

However, Phillips, known for her appearances as a judge on the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, acknowledged that her concerns would be allayed if Equity’s demands for a new minimum wage of £550 a week for performers in the West End were met, but added: “It does not change the fact experience counts.”