I was an employee here.
Let me acknowledge that Total Entertainment is one of the biggest companies in the tri-state area that does this and, in a way, I respect that they work with such big clients and have put me in rooms I never would've been in otherwise. They possess or have cultivated some of the best talent in this industry.
That said, this was the most toxic and morally bankrupt place I ever worked.
I enjoyed my job, but I was fired for creating a worker-led resource where, among other things, dancers could discuss and report workplace issues like racism, wage theft, and sexual harassment. Under the law, this is concerted protected activity and it's illegal to fire employees for it. Additionally, my coworkers were threatened with termination if they continued to use the resource, which is also illegal. They admitted to all of this on my termination call which I recorded and can be found on my IG page (@jamcjon).
Overall, Total's business model seems to rely on a revolving door of vulnerable talent: young people who can't afford or don't know to push back against unpaid training, verbal abuse, harassment, or the culture of fear and favoritism that pits workers against each other and prevents them from organizing. This isn't just bad management that tarnishes the quality of Total Entertainment's product, but it's also systemic exploitation that actively harms young talent, sometimes in irreparable ways.
In my opinion, Total Entertainment doesn't deserve to remain in business, considering how poorly they treat their talent and considering that there are several alternatives that with comparable talent who don't dehumanize their staff or punish people for insisting they're treated like people. read more
