“You are not your abuse. You are not what they did to you. You are not your trauma. You are the cleverness that survived. You are the courage that escaped. You are the power that hid & protected a tiny spark of your light. You will fan that spark into a bonfire of rage & love, and with it you will burn all their lies to ash.” - author unknown

TRIGGER WARNING: mental, physical and sexual abuse

On August 21, 2020 a former dancer in the Academy Of Villains dance company, a company that has performed for Netflix, on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance?, for Vans, and various other high profile events, spoke her truth on her experiences performing in that company. Many other dancers with similar experiences followed suit. With over six hours of recorded stories, a damning light was shed on company owner and director Christopher “Pharside” Jennings, also nicknamed CJ, and wife Krystal “Phoenix” Meraz. Allegations of money schemes, racism, homophobia, battery, assault, abuse, coerced drug use and sexual abuse. One such instance spoken of occurred in August 2016 during rehearsals for the company’s first appearance at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Dancers describe a decades long, unwritten company wide policy within the Academy Of Villains where water during rehearsals was considered a gift. If performers completed their routine roughly 10-20 times perfectly, the dancers were allowed a drink of water. With practices going as far as 12 hours and even longer, dancers frequently vomited from exhaustion and dehydration, but were punished if they spoke out about needing water. Through hours of dance, hundreds of pushups or burpees, water was a reward, not an everyday necessity or even for extreme physical exertion as is medically and universally considered.

While rehearsing on the Fear Factor Live stage—an outdoor venue at Universal Studios Orlando where temperatures frequently reach the mid- to high-nineties and low-hundreds— Cierra Lauren was deep into rehearsals with no water breaks when she was overcome by an asthma attack. She was not allowed to get to her inhaler in time, she could not breathe, so an ambulance was called to take her to the ER on site at Universal. After describing the situation that led to her asthma attack to doctors and nurses on staff, the hospital contacted local law enforcement as they suspected something deeper was wrong. While receiving treatment at the hospital, she was encouraged to provide a statement to law enforcement. Hours later, she returned to rehearsals at Universal Studios, and found her colleagues in a state of exhaustion from continued rehearsals in the oppressive Florida heat.

Terrified of how this incident would affect AOV as a company, while trying to remain as calm and composed as possible Cierra did what she thought was best and went to speak to AOV owner and director Christopher “Pharside” Jennings. When she was overcome with emotion, she tearfully explained what had just happened to her. AOV company owner Christopher “Pharside” Jennings’ response? As she stood there crying, worrying not about her own health but of the well-being of the company, Christopher “Pharside” Jennings laughed at her. He pulled Cierra to the side, grabbed her by her shoulders, looked directly into her eyes and told her “if you ever say anything that puts my company at risk...if you do anything to take away this show from us, I will make sure that your career is ruined and you’ll never dance again.” He then, so nonchalantly patted her on the back, and ushered her back to the stage to continue rehearsing as if nothing had happened. As if he had not just so detrimentally threatened a career that Cierra spent 11 years building, all due to his unnecessary and unhealthy demands he placed upon his dancers causing her bodily harm.

It is important to know that this incident is not the only abusive incident that has occured in the 10+ years AOV (Academy of Villains) has been a company. Members have experienced workplace abuse, sexual abuse, hazing, unpaid wages and many other unforgivable acts. What's worse is this abuse has unfortunately been haunting a majority of the company members for years. Most who have left the team and never danced again because of their traumatic experiences while being on AOV. It has affected their lives so deeply.

Using threats against their careers and even lives of his dancers, intimidation, and physical violence, Christopher “Pharside” Jennings seemingly didn’t just run a dance company. Many of his former dancers describe him as a cult like leader, seemingly stopping at nothing to constantly belittle, demotivate and hurt the people he relied on most to bring his ideas to life.

In 2016 and 2017, the Academy Of Villains performed multiple times nightly on an outdoor stage to crowds that could reach a thousand people per show. In 2018 and 2019, the show was promoted to performing to packed houses in Universal Studio Florida’s Fear Factor Live venue during Halloween Horror Nights. With their incredible mixture of dancing and stunts, they put on truly mind-blowing shows that were highly rated with guests. But at what cost? Many of the dancers sharing their truths about their time spent dancing in the Academy Of Villains, no longer dance. Their bright, fiery passions of dance were extinguished by the horrifying actions of a man that they looked up to—a man they called their mentor.

Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights is considered the nation’s premier Halloween event. With many haunted houses and scare zones, it is frequented by hundreds of thousands of fans from across the globe. Universal Studios entertained that audience with some of the country’s best dancers while, backstage, those same performers were seemingly subjected to subhuman conditions stemming from the owner and “star” of the show Christopher “Pharside” Jennings. Last year, on Guest Satisfaction Surveys, Academy Of Villains received the best scores ever calculated making it the highest rated show in the 29 years of Halloween Horror Nights history.

The goal of this petition is simple: accountability, visibility, and a positive change for the better. Universal Studio’s Florida needs to take accountability for the abhorrent events that took place on their property. They must identify any Universal Studios employees that were aware of these conditions and chose not to speak up to protect the dancers. Further, they must take action to ensure that master manipulators like Christopher “Pharside” Jennings and Krystal “Phoenix” Meraz cannot continue profiting from the pain that they caused in the past, pains so great that many people are still healing from them today, and to make sure Academy Of Villains does not perform at Halloween Horror Nights again. 

Halloween Horror Nights is not the stage for scam artists, abusers, racists, homophobes, drug pushers, pedophiles and sexual abusers. Universal Studios is an exhilarating, world class resort and theme park and Halloween Horror Nights is intended as a thrilling celebration of the Halloween season that should in no way, shape or form come at the expense of its beloved entertainers.

By signing this petition you help shine a spotlight that would help bring accountability to a world renowned theme park, and most importantly, help bring about a positive, supportive light in the lives of these incredibly talented individuals. Your signature on this petition shows that you truly care about not allowing their abusers to continue profiting from their pain. Please sign if you can, please share if you can, and please keep all of these gifted artists in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to heal and bring about a brighter future for dancers everywhere.