Ellen Elphick says she wants to bring attention to the harm caused by body-shaming in ballet (Image: -)
A once aspiring ballerina has received a substantial payout after claiming she had been “body-shamed” whilst studying at The Royal Ballet School.
Former dancer Ellen Elphick, 31, says she has been left with lifelong psychological damage from her three-year ordeal at the world-renowned institution.
Since its formation in 1926, the school has trained many of the world’s finest classical dancers – including Margot Fonteyn, Kenneth MacMillan, Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell, Anya Linden, Jonathan Cope and Darcey Bussell.
But lawyers alleged the London-based school breached its duty of care whilst Ellen was a teenage student between 2009 and 2012.
The school, which currently charges students over £33,000 a year to attend, has now confirmed it has reached an out-of-court financial agreement with Ellen but said it accepted no liability for its former pupil’s case and has not issued an apology.
ELLEN ELPHICK ; Ballerina ; The Royal Ballet School ; London, UK ; 2011 ; Credit: Johan Persson / (Image: Johan Persson / ArenaPAL)
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A spokesperson said: “We are pleased that both parties were able to reach a mutually acceptable agreement in this way and we wish Ellen and her family well for the future.”
They added that the school “continues to take the welfare of its students very seriously”.
Ellen was aged 16 when she moved to London to follow her dreams of becoming a top ballerina but claims that just two weeks into her training, a teacher publicly humiliated her by tracing a line around her body in front of a mirror.
Ellen said the teacher then told the class: “If I had a knife, this is what I would cut off.”
She says the alleged comment exacerbated her struggles with disordered eating and she was subsequently diagnosed with atypical anorexia and body dysmorphia
The situation was exacerbated because she says other teachers at the school had a pattern of negative comments that she says caused her shame, eroded her confidence and intensified her eating disorder.
Ellen is among more than 50 ex-dancers who claim there has been a long-running “toxic” culture of body-shaming and bullying within some of the UK’s leading ballet schools.
She said she had pursued legal action to bring attention to the harm caused by body-shaming in ballet.
The financial terms of her settlement have not been publicly disclosed.
But she added: “It wasn’t about the money. It was about making people aware of what being a ballerina is really like and showing that what happened to me was unacceptable.”
However she says she feels some validation from the settlement, Ellen expressed disappointment at the lack of an apology.
World renowned Royal Ballet School (Image: Getty)
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“That they couldn’t even say ‘sorry’ shows there is so much more to do,” she added.
Now a mother herself, she said she wanted to shield her daughter from the ballet world and would “never” send her to ballet classes.
But she hopes her case could lead to meaningful reform and that ballet schools will prioritise students’ mental health and train teachers to understand the impact of their words.
She said: “RBS needs to lead the way and show that health and wellbeing matter more than just dancing.
“Children should be able to go into dance and not leave it feeling damaged.”
Lawyer Dino Nocivelli, who represented Ellen said: “It is time that the ballet community now finally accepts the duty of care it owes to its dancers, accepts where failings have taken place and the harm caused, and changes significantly for the better.
“We continue the demand we made in 2023 that the Government conducts an inquiry into body shaming and abuse in ballet. We cannot stand by while another generation of ballet dancers suffers.”