Back to the Real Salt Lake Newsfeed

Scott D. Pierce: Odyssey Dance apologizes to anyone offended by racist TV appearance — but then denies it was racist

Under criticism for a blatantly racist TV appearance by members of his company, Odyssey Dance Theatre’s artistic director responded Friday that the company is “very sorry for the reaction to their appearance” but adamantly and repeatedly denied that the incident was in any way racist.

It’s one of those non-apology apologies. And others disagree. Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski tweeted that the segment, seen on KSL-Channel 5 on Thursday morning, “was incredibly disrespectful and not in keeping with the values of” the city. She added she hopes ODT “reconsiders this type of caricature of the Asian community in their upcoming show.