Parents defend ballet school after student arrested in sex case
Parents and former students rallied around the National Ballet School this weekend after stunning allegations that a teenage student had sexually assaulted younger peers, and that it was the second instance of sex charges against a student in just three months.
The accused in the latest allegations, a 13-year-old boy whose name cannot be published, was granted bail Saturday morning at Old City Hall. He is charged with seven counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and one count of invitation to sexual touching against numerous students aged 11 and 12 on school property.
A police source confirmed an earlier arrest of a teenager relating to sexual offences, making Friday's developments all the more troubling.
Even supporters of the school wonder how the latest alleged offences, which police say took place between September, 2006, and October, 2007, could have taken so long to come to light.
“Why were they quiet for so long?” asked the mother of a student who shared a class with the accused last year.
Police were notified Friday of an anonymous tip to the Catholic Children's Aid Society which, according to the police source, came from the parent of a student who had been warned about the accused by a victim.
Svea Eklof, a former ballerina who has taught at the NBS and currently has a daughter enrolled there, said she is not surprised at the silence.
“They would be fearful about coming forward, I would imagine, very fearful about being labelled a victim,” she said. “It's not that there's an atmosphere that would encourage them not to come forward, but this would be very hard for someone around that age.”
Kimberly Glasco, a former student and a full-time mother, said the message she takes away from the arrest has nothing do with the ballet school: it has to do with the parents whose daughters never told them about the alleged assaults.
“You must speak to your kids,” she said.
Former students and teachers at the National Ballet School said that while they were shocked upon hearing of Friday's arrest, they do not think it reflects on the school itself.
“Oh, there's enormous supervision; they're incredible,” Ms. Eklof said. “No, the National Ballet School is not a place that is fostering this, or turning a blind eye, absolutely not.”
Jennifer Fournier, a dancer and former NBS student, said the school now keeps a more watchful eye on students.
“When I was there, there were all these nooks and crannies,” she said. “There's also much more supervision than when I was there. That's why I was shocked to hear the news.”
Although the NBS has a reputation for driving its students hard to produce top quality dancers, all accounts depict a warm, nurturing atmosphere where renewed efforts have been made under artistic director Mavis Staines to closely monitor the physical and emotional health of the dancers.
“She changed the culture of the school,” one former employee of the National Ballet Company said. “She brought in psychologists and nutritionists. It used to be run like an army base.”
The mother of a dancer who was in the same class as the accused last year said she understands there are limits to the supervision that is possible.
“It's a terrible thing,” she said. “They have very tight security, but you cannot hold their hands.”
WTF are the parents doing? Don't make babies if you can't smack some senses out of them.
