By: Olivia Xia

On Wednesday dancers in France threatened to strike at the Paris 2024 Olympic Opening ceremony, which will be taking place on and around the Seine River. The SFA-CGT union, which represents around 10 percent of the 3000 dancers, filed a strike notice over “outrageous disparities” in payment between full-time employees and temporary dancers. And the performers refused to perform until the event organizers met their demands.

Around 250-300 dancers on temporary contracts were complaining that they were unfairly treated compared to the full-time performers signed to dance or ballet companies. Another demand they made was for increased housing and transportation for those who did not live near Paris.

Things were not looking great for the opening ceremony at this point. During a practice, around 200 dancers stood still with their fists raised in protest. The opening ceremony will be watched by millions of people, and there is no room for failure.

After a meeting to salvage relationships between dancers and the event organizers the S.F.A.-C.G.T resolved the issue. They have reached a deal on one of the dancer’s main demands, allowing them to have more broadcast royalties. Originally, these dancers were to receive far less. Live broadcast royalties are the fees that streaming platforms pay to the copyright owners of the performances or songs that are played during a live broadcast. The dancers agreed to lift the strike, allowing the Olympics to proceed normally again.

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