No, dancers were not the lowest of the low. However, they were also not the most well-respected. The female entertianers with the highest status were the awalim , highly-educated female musicians who sang and recited poetry. Dancers, on the other hand, appeared unveiled in public. Even today, a dancer has to be very famous and wealthy to be considered respectable.
Dancers enjoy supporting themselves on the money they earn.
They are not dependent on fathers, uncles, husbands or brothers, and therefore have much more personal freedom than other women. Unfortunately, women who want husbands and children often settle for husbands who insist they retire from dancing. In some cases, past and present, dancers could sit and talk about art and politics with men. Dancers could earn an education, and display their knowledge, when other women could not. Being a dancer could be lonely and physically dangerous, but for many women the freedom and pleasures of a dancer's life were worth the sacrifices they made by living outside of respectable society.