The Break the Floor dance company is parting ways with the dancer after he and others were accused of a range of sexually inappropriate conduct while on tour.
Donald PadgettTwo-time Emmy-winning choreographer and So You Think You Can Dance star Travis Wall has been taken off of the Break the Floor dance company's tours after allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming were leveled at him by a then-underaged dancer with the company.
Myles Lavallee is one of eight former staffers and students in a Toronto Starstory detailing alleged inappropriate sexual propositions, unsolicited nude photographs, sexual harassment, and sex acts in a complaint against the famed dance company.
Lavallee was 16 years old at the time of the allegation, while Wall was 20.
Lavallee described an evening in 2008 when the choreographer was hosting a dance class in the area near Lavalle parents' home. His parents invited Wall to stay, and he allegedly provided Lavallee with the drug ecstasy later that evening.
“We were doing hand massages, which just creeps me out now,” Lavallee recalled of the evening. He quickly invited a friend to the house because he said it felt like “the next step for us” was to “kiss one another.”
Lavallee said he made clear to Wall he had no desire for their relationship to become sexual. Wall allegedly responded by telling the 16-year-old he was romantically attracted to him and considered him to be his best friend, but tried no further sexual or physical advances.
Not long after, Lavallee claims Wall failed to show up for a scheduled teaching session and cut off all contact with him. He now believes Wall was grooming him for a sexual relationship and cast him aside personally and professionally when Lavallee rebuffed those advances.
In addition to the alleged acts by Wall, Lavallee also claims an unnamed dancer forced himself onto the youth sexually at a party that same year. The dancer, who was 24 years old at the time, is currently employed as a choreographer by BTF.
In response to the allegations, Break the Floor issued a statement via a story to Instagram saying Wall was no longer “traveling with BTF” and announced plans to bring in “a third party to look into these allegations.”
Wall had a breakout run as runner-up on season two of So You Think You Can Dance in 2006. He joined the show as a choreographer in 2012 and has won two Emmy’s for his work on SYTYCD since then.
Lavallee’s mother, Wendy, said she wish she had known sooner about the alleged abuse. She also said she has a few choice words for Wall.
“I can’t tell you how many times I thought about writing to Travis. All I would need to do is say [five] words,” Wendy said. “‘I know what you did.’”
Though a representative for Wall told the Star that the accusations against him were false, Wall has yet to make his own public statment addressing the situation. We will update this story if and when he does.
RELATED | Travis Wall's Marriage Equality SYTYCD Piece Earned Him an Emmy Nom
0Travis Wall Dismissed From Tour After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
0