The world of ballet is braced for a possible #MeToo outpouring after a ballerina filed a lawsuit alleging the sharing of sexually explicit photos by male dancers and an uncontrolled "fraternity house environment” at one of the world’s leading companies.
After Alexandra Waterbury filed her suit against the New York City Ballet (NYCB), her lawyer Jordan Merson said: “We are hopeful that other women have the courage to come forward and speak out.
“I believe we have only scratched the surface of these allegations.”
And with the company due to open its autumn programme on 18 September, one of its principal dancers has publicly declared that the NYCB needs “a moral and fair individual to lead us out of this darkness”.
Signs also seemed to be emerging that the NYCB may face a boycott over Ms Waterbury’s claims that her ex-boyfriend Chase Finlay, while a principal dancer at the company, shared nude photos of her and joked about abusing ballerinas “like the sluts they are”.
One mother of a New York-based ballet dancer who described her daughter as having grown up dreaming of performing with the NYCB, said on Twitter that she had supported the company for 25 years but “I don’t think I can any more.”
Ms Waterbury, who studied at the School of American Ballet, which is affiliated to the NYCB, used Instagram to appeal to other women to refuse to accept mistreatment, but also admitted to the New York Times: “Every time I see a little girl in a tutu or with her hair in a bun on her way to ballet class, all I can think is that she should run in the other direction, because no one will protect her, like no one protected me.”
On Saturday Ashley Bouder, a principal dancer at the ballet and a member of the company for 18 years, stressed that the claims were made against only a few individuals and the NYCB as a whole did not condone the alleged behaviour,
But she added: “Although this was [allegedly] carried out by a few highly visible men alone, it was allowed to fester in our current leaderless state. The NYCB is searching for a new artistic leader.
“May we find a moral and fair individual to lead us out of this darkness and into future respect, integrity and success.”
The NYCB is currently without an artistic leader because in January its ballet master Peter Martins retired after the company received allegations of sexual harassment and physical and verbal abuse by him.
Mr Martins and his supporters vigorously disputed the allegations and in February an independent inquiry ordered by the NYCB said the claims could not be corroborated.
Some of those making the accusations, however, were vehement in disputing the inquiry’s findings.
The controversy had led to some expectations that, as Dance magazine put it, “What had long been an open secret – the prevalence of harassment in the dance world – was finally coming to the surface.”
On that occasion, however, there was no outpouring of allegations to mirror that which occurred in Hollywood after the fall of Harvey Weinstein – something that was attributed to ballet’s traditional culture of discipline and rigid hierarchies, where ballet masters expected to be obeyed without question and the competition for roles was brutal.
Ms Waterbury’s lawsuit, however, appears to represent the strongest challenge yet to alleged behind-the-scenes abuse in ballet.
In it, the 20-year-old alleges that behind her back Mr Finlay, 28, sent a nude picture of her to other men, with the request: “You have any pictures of girls you’ve f****d? I’ll send you some ballerina girls I’ve made scream.”
The lawsuit also alleges that when an unnamed donor to the NYCB wrote in a group chat of his desire to “violate” ballerinas at another company, Mr Finlay responded with two thumbs up emoticons.
The donor is said to have continued: “I bet we could tie some of them up and abuse them like farm animals.”
“Or like the sluts they are”, Mr Finlay is alleged to have responded.
Ms Waterbury’s lawsuit said she was not the only ballerina whose nude photos were shared, and accused the NYCB of condoning a “fraternity-like atmosphere” that “permeates the Ballet and its dancers and emboldens them to violate the basic rights of women”.
Mr Finlay resigned from the NYCB in August after an investigation was launched. Two other male dancers were suspended.
After Ms Waterbury’s lawsuit became public, Mr Finlay’s lawyer Ira Kleiman said it contained “nothing more than allegations that should not be taken as fact”.
Charles W Scharf, the chairman of NYCB board said: “New York City Ballet is confident there is no basis for this lawsuit, and vehemently denies the allegations that the company has condoned, encouraged, or fostered the kind of activity that Mr Finlay and the others have participated in, which were off-hours activities that were not known, approved, or facilitated by NYCB.”
He added that after NYCB learned of the allegations in June, “We investigated them and found that the actions had violated the company’s norms of conduct, and immediate appropriate action was taken.
“NYCB has no liability for the actions specified in the complaint and has taken the appropriate disciplinary actions for the dancers involved.”
But in an Instagram post accompanied by the Andre Lourde quote “Your silence will not protect you”, Ms Waterbury, wrote: “My truth will be known and I will not be silent.
“2018 is the year of strong women. Do not accept mistreatment and abuse. You deserve equality, let alone basic human decency.
“To any women or victims out there just know, you are not alone. Their time is up.”
The controversy comes at a time when ballet seems increasingly to be questioning some of the “old school” assumptions that might have helped foster a culture where there have long been claims of bullying and sexual exploitation.
In March Christopher Hampson, artistic director of the Scottish Ballet argued: “There must be a wider conversation about ‘people skills’ in the ballet world.
“Over the last three decades I have seen dancers encouraged, guided and artistically liberated by some incredibly talented directors, choreographers and coaches.
“I have also witnessed dancers humiliated, harassed and threatened, sometimes overtly, but often covertly. This conduct is despicable and belongs in the past.”
Suggesting that some choreographers seemed to want to “replicate the abusive training environment they may have experienced themselves”, Mr Hampson added: “I have seen them revered by colleagues and critics alike as ‘robust’, ‘exacting’, and ‘ruthless’. I have only ever seen them as intimidators, often insecure or emotionally immature and self-absorbed.
“This type of behaviour guarantees resentment, perpetuates mistrust, generates fear and compliance; it is uncreative and damaging.”
Recognising that the millennial generation was helping to change the culture, he said: “The ballet world today is largely better than that.
“Millennials get a bad press but I’m inspired by them. They expect to be treated with respect and do not recognise being shouted at, or humiliated as ‘working hard’, as some in previous generations did.
“Dancers today are not ‘behaving badly’, they are asking more of us as leaders. That’s a good thing and we should deliver.”
