Every year, one of the world’s leading dance competition companies sells the dream of Hollywood fame to hundreds of thousands of ambitious young dancers hoping to launch careers on television, in movies and on stage.
The company was launched 22 years ago by a charismatic dancer, Gil Stroming, who came to fame in the 1990s, performing in the off-Broadway show “Tap Dogs,” described in The New York Times as a “beefcake tap-a-thon.” Allegations of sexual misconduct first hit the dance company in October, when the Toronto Star revealed allegations of widespread sexual harassment and predatory behaviour by Break the Floor instructors.
Of these sources, four say he sometimes brought young Break the Floor participants to parties or company events, where they were introduced as his girlfriend. Seven sources say they saw Stroming interact with students in ways that appeared intimate and inappropriate. One staff member said Stroming showed him a nude photo of one of the students.
The AP and the Star spoke to the dancer’s father, who said that in the years following, she told him about these sexual interactions with Stroming, which left her deeply upset. While not all of the complainants in this story were involved with Break the Floor at the time of the alleged incidents, the instructors and executives accused of wrongdoing have played key roles in growing the company’s revenue and popularity.
At 16, Hudson looked forward to the festive weekend gatherings. But he was uncomfortable when a dance teacher, Mark Meismer, in his early 30s, repeatedly told him how attractive he was. Still, he accepted a sought-after opportunity to assist Meismer as they toured various studios and conventions together. A year later, Hudson stayed with Meismer when he joined Break The Floor’s fledgling NUVO convention as part of its original lineup of instructors.
“I took the word of this choreographer, and thought he was helping me build a dance career. Which in fact, he wasn’t,” Hudson said in his video, viewed over 6,300 times. Hamilton also said perpetrators in many youth-focused organizations use hotel rooms – away from home – to exploit the power imbalance between teachers and students.
“I’m not a monster but I feel like one,” Wallace wrote, adding that he has “a lot of hazy memories and a huge list of regrets/mistakes” from that time period. Stroming picked up Lazzarini at the height of his fame to join the convention circuit, teaching hundreds of thousands of aspiring young dancers. In 2019, Stroming quietly fired him after he posted, then quickly removed, a video of himself masturbating on Instagram, as the Star previously reported.
Gabriel, when asked about Maples’ accusation, said in a written statement that he had been drinking heavily that night to control fears about serious health problems in his family. He said he must have passed out and has no recollection of sending the text. He apologized and said he himself was a victim of abuse as a teen, and that his texts to Maples were a “one time ever brief exchange.”
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