The repertoire of ballet fizzes with intrigue and pirouettes with passion. So it is perhaps only apt that one of Britain’s biggest troupes is experiencing some of the ingredients of a gripping drama.
English National Ballet has lost a third of its dancers in two years amid claims of verbal abuse and a hostile working environment, with some former dancers claiming they felt pressured to work while injured, The Times has learnt.
Sources said the dancers held Tamara Rojo, the artistic director, responsible for the company’s culture, adding that they felt their voices were ignored when complaints were made to management.
Ms Rojo, who became artistic director in 2012, has been praised for transforming ENB’s output, much of which has been critically acclaimed. It is highly reliant on state funding with its annual £6.2 million Arts Council grant accounting for more than 40 per cent of its income. The company’s most recently published accounts detailed a drop in box office takings, albeit on a reduced number of performances.
Current and former employees have said they felt uncomfortable with Ms Rojo’s romantic relationship with the senior dancer Isaac Hernández and feared perceptions of a possible conflict of interest could have influenced the recent departures and compromised the organisation.
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According to the sources and to documents seen by The Times, ENB’s management was made aware of dissatisfaction with the culture and concerns about the relationship between Ms Rojo, 43, and Hernández, 27, a direct subordinate.
Company members raised concerns that the relationship was felt to have “changed the dynamics of the company — and not for the better,” one source said, adding that their worries were never addressed.
“That was one of the reasons several people left,” the source said. Several other people also confirmed that this was a factor in their decisions to resign.
British cultural organisations seldom take issue with relationships within their ranks and the potential for conflicts of interest to arise. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s artistic director Gregory Doran, for example, is married to Sir Antony Sher, who as one of the country’s top Shakespearean actors frequently has top billing in productions. At Glyndebourne the executive chairman Gus Christie is married to the soprano Danielle de Niese who often appears in productions and is due to present its inaugural Opera Cup this year.
The Times understands, from confidential discussions with more than ten sources, that staff at ENB submitted concerns about the “management issues” to the organisation’s executive leadership in the autumn of 2016. One source said “there was nothing reported back about the concerns written down about the management issue”.
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“They said that there needed to be ‘quick fixes’ but that doesn’t get at the heart of the problem,” the source added.
All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear that publicly addressing the subject would damage their careers
The company, Britain’s second biggest, is believed to deny all the allegations and said in a statement that in recognition of the “demanding art form” it had worked with Ms Rojo to “implement improvements” for dancers and employees. “Recently these have included significantly increased medical provisions, such as access to sports scientists and psychologists, nutritionists and ice bath facilities; clearer and more generous reporting lines for dancers and more training for their managers,” it said.
“We take the safety and wellbeing of our dancers and everyone who works with us extremely seriously. We are committed to providing a safe environment, free of harassment and bullying of any sort, and respond to any specific concerns that are raised.”