Travis Wall taken off tour with Break the Floor dance company following Star investigation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2021 (1420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Emmy Award-winning choreographer Travis Wall will no longer be travelling with a prominent dance company as it investigates an allegation of sexually inappropriate behaviour raised in a Toronto Star investigation.

Break the Floor, which hosts dance schools and puts on performances across North America, said a third-party will be looking into the allegation against Wall.

“We take this very seriously and will take further action if necessary,” the dance company’s statement on Instagram read.

Wall did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wall had previously said, “the accusations against me are false” in a statement through a publicist.

A Star investigation found allegations of widespread sexual harassment and predatory behaviour by Break the Floor coaches over their younger students, where dancers say their complaints of inappropriate conduct have been dismissed by the company’s owner, letting the problem fester for years.

Eight former staff and students allege BTF employees, famous in the dance world, initiated sexual conversations, propositioned them for sex, sent them nude photos, sexually harassed them at work or engaged in sexual relationships with them.

One of those students alleges Wall began grooming him when he was 16 and the choreographer was around 20.

Myles Lavallee said he became Wall’s dance assistant in 2008, and the choreographer flew him around the United States to help him teach choreography to youth.

Wall was at the height of his fame in 2008. He was the runner-up of “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2006, and had become a staple on television.

In the fall of 2008, Wall was teaching a course near Lavallee’s house in Arizona, and Lavallee’s parents invited Wall to stay overnight, Lavallee said.

Lavallee also said that Wall gave him ecstasy that night. “We were doing hand massages, which just creeps me out now,” he said.

Lavallee called a friend to come over to divert where he said he felt the night was leading.

Lavallee said he made it clear he was not interested in a sexual relationship. The relationship did not progress further physically, Lavallee said. However, Lavallee said Wall told him he had romantic feelings for him, and thought of him as his best friend. A few months later, without warning, Lavallee said, Wall cut off communication with him in the middle of one weekend and didn’t show up to one of their scheduled teaching sessions. Lavallee said Wall’s disappearance left him feeling unmoored and now feels he was being groomed for a sexual relationship. He said he felt punished for dodging the alleged sexual advances.

“I didn’t really understand why communication was cut off. The only reason I could think of was because we didn’t take it further romantically.”

Break the Floor’s CEO Gil Stroming previously told the Star that the dance company did not have “fully thought out policies and procedures regarding this” and, “over the last year and half we have worked very hard to make BTF a better and safer environment for everyone.”

“We could have and should have done better.”

Morgan Bocknek is a Toronto-based podcast producer for the Star, based in Toronto. She is also a Star contributor. Follow her on Twitter: @mobocks