DANCER FIRED OVER HIV STATUS?

Reports claim that a lead dancer in a touring company of the hit stage musical African Footprint, currently in Alaska, has been sent home because he is HIV positive.

The unnamed dancer apparently told a colleague in confidence of his status, but the information was conveyed to management. He was then allegedly asked to return to South Africa by the show’s US promoter Corey Ross as he was seen to pose a risk to the other dancers.

Although he confirmed that the cast member was on his way home, producer Richard Loring told the Star newspaper that the claims were otherwise “absolutely untrue”.

He said that “I was present along with two fellow artists when my associate producer, Debbie Batzofin, having just been made aware of the set of circumstances, gave the artist the deserved privacy and respect accorded to all our artists.”

The South African Human Rights Commission’s HIV/Aids co-ordinator has urged the dancer to lay a complaint with the commission if the allegations are true.