University of North Carolina School of the Arts is facing multiple allegations of abuse in a lawsuit filed by famed sexual harassment attorney Gloria Allred and Lanier Law Group. UNCSA has long been a revered place to study dance at, producing many stars like Camille A. Brown and Gillian Murphy. Yet the school’s decades-old reputation […]
Survivors of sexual assault and harassment are pulling back the curtain on a pernicious problem in the dance world. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, several have come forward in the past few years to share their stories. Now, there are two major cases in the mainstream news: In a federal lawsuit filed September […]
At least once a month or so a local news story pops up in my Google alerts about a dance teacher accused of sexually abusing one (or more) of their students. The frequency never numbs the sinking feeling I get when I read these accounts. Particularly since I realize that the same thing is likely […]
In 2001, young Chanel, a determined, ambitious, fiery, headstrong teenager, was about to begin her sophomore year at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, also known as the highly acclaimed “Fame” school. I was a great student, a promising young dancer and well-liked by my teachers and my peers. On paper, […]
When Boston Ballet principal dancer Paulo Arrais was approached to choreograph for the company’s spring program, Rhapsody, he immediately knew where he wanted to draw inspiration from. “I grew up in a part of Brazil where it was very common to see domestic violence,” says Arrais. “I’m angry about this problem and I’m trying to […]
More than 60 former students from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet have joined a class-action lawsuit against the company and its former teacher and photographer Bruce Monk. Those involved are seeking $75 million in damages, for inappropriate photos that were taken of them as students by Monk. The lawsuit was reported by MacLean’s, a Canadian news […]