Avril Lavigne Cancels Audition After Dancers Boycott

Tue, 05 February 2008 02:59:49 ET

Avril Lavigne's camp decided to terminate the audition to seek dancers for her upcoming tour after many dancers claimed the pay rate is below standard.

Stemming from a boycott done by Dancers' Alliance to warn about the low pay check received as Avril Lavigne's back dancers, an audition which is supposed to be held today (February 5) has been canceled. In a released statement, Avril's camp have decided to pull this one off, announcing: "As of February 4th, 10:30pm Avril's management has canceled the audition tomorrow and has opened up a new conversation with the agencies. Thanks for everyone's support on this issue."

The dance community started spreading e-mails that exposed the less-than-favorable pay rate for the upcoming Avril Lavigne tour. The e-mail read: "There will be an Avril Lavigne audition happening on Tuesday, February 5th that we are very concerned about. The tour's weekly rate is $1,250.00 inclusive of agency fee - after agency commission that would be $1,125.00 to you before taxes. Management has offered no additional perdiem and no plus agency fee, which is standard in our industry. We have expressed our concerns to Avril's management but they have decided to move forward regardless."

"Our recommendation is that our clients and all dancers in the city spread the word to friends, fellow dancers, dance schools, etc. emphasizing how inappropriate these rates are. Hopefully your actions can send a message to management that the rates are unacceptable for an artist of this calibre and that they cannot hire professional dancers for these fees."

In response, Avril's publicist told PerezHilton.com that they still keep the industry standard in paying the dancers. "We have been told that the rates for the dancers are within the industry standard," the publicist said. "Avril prides herself in treating everyone on the tour with the utmost respect & consideration and pays them well within the industry standard."

Avril's "Best Damn Tour" will start March 5 in Victoria, British Columbia and end May 10 in Seattle, W.A..

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