Abuse of power comes as no surprise
Hello, dear readers,
The big news in the ballet world this week is that the Royal Ballet in London has suspended its artist-in-residence, hot shot choreographer Liam Scarlett, while it investigates claims of sexual misconduct against him.
Scarlett, 33, is accused of asking students at the Royal Ballet School for nude photos, among other things. The story was first reported by the Times of London, which is behind a paywall. From Pointe magazine:
A former Royal Ballet School student told The Times that Scarlett encouraged him to send him an intimate photograph, and that Scarlett had shared sexual messages with at least 10 male students via Facebook. Scarlett is also being accused of commenting on dancers' genitalia, touching their backsides and walking in on them changing.
And, from the New York Times:
Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said the Royal Ballet’s inquiry heard that dancers who accepted Mr. Scarlett’s advances, or didn’t complain about them, were given better roles.
In response, several companies including San Francisco Ballet and Australia’s Queensland Ballet won’t be staging their scheduled performances of Scarlett’s work.
Here’s the thing: the suspension happened in August. Five months ago. The Royal Ballet, it seems, didn’t tell any of the companies that were planning to perform Scarlett’s choreography — or if they did, those companies didn’t take the allegations seriously enough to stop preparing to perform his work. Now, they’re scrambling to replace it on their programs, labor that will largely fall on the dancers who had been rehearsing one piece and will now have to get ready to prepare a totally different one.
Unlike the other alleged sexual predators who have been unmasked in the ballet world of late, Scarlett is accused of targeting young men. We don’t know who they are and we don’t know what their sexual orientations are, but we do know this: for so many queer boys, ballet is a haven. It’s a precious refuge from a world in which they’re bullied and isolated, a place where they can feel normal and valued. When those places are violated by predation, it is an utter betrayal of that haven.
Then again, that haven comes at a cost. Ballet, even for boys and men, is hyper-competitive and often, crucial decisions about casting or promotion are made by just one person — and that person is usually a man. As students, ballet dancers are taught to be quiet and follow any and all directions they receive, even if doing so is uncomfortable or even painful.
The ballet world has replicated this culture over and over again, handed it down from teacher to student for generations in the name of passing on vaunted traditions and conserving the artform. Here’s what dance scholar Susan Stinson wrote about ballet pedagogy twenty-seven years ago:
The teacher tells and shows the students what to do and, in some classes, how to do it. Students attempt to replicate the movement done by the teacher. The teacher verbally gives what are called "corrections," to shape the students' performance of the movement more closely to the desired ideal. The students repeat the movement, and the teacher continues giving corrections until it is time to move on to the next sequence… most dance training consists of learning how to follow directions and how to follow them well. The model for traditional dance pedagogy seems to be the authoritarian father.
Of course abuse flourishes in this environment. Of course this place, haven though it can be, is a hunting ground for predators of all sexual orientations.
As one former Royal Ballet School student told the Times, “as a dancer you are trained to say yes to everything. Because it's so competitive you can't lose an opportunity, so when someone with a lot of power asks you to do something you are pre-programmed to do it."
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading.