B’way sex charge
Choreographer busted for alleged molest of student
A Broadway choreographer was arrested Wednesday for molesting a teenage dance student, police said.
David Marquez is accused of groping a 16-year-old boy’s penis and behind on a couch in Marquez’s Fort Washington Ave. apartment in Washington Heights on Aug. 15, 2017, cops said. The teen was taking dance lessons from Marquez and reported the alleged abuse on March 29, 2018, authorities said.
Marquez, 53, appeared on the Great White Way in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and was in the “Jesus Christ Superstar” national tour, according to his biography on the Broadway Dance Center website.
Dance students at the center expressed shock at the arrest.
“Oh my gosh. Wow. That’s insane. Oh my gosh,” said Cael Tregeagle, 25, a student in jazz. “I can’t believe that happened. I feel like that’s weird, to bring a student home.”
Tregeagle added, “Unfortunately in this business, there is a history of the casting couch and getting cozy with choreographers and directors. So it is unfortunate because the mind gets crossed with doing it with minors. They’re just trying to make a connection and they don’t know.”
Another student, Juliana Elliott, 27, said Marquez’s class is both very popular and fairly hard. “I think it’s sad,” she said.
A dance instructor stressed these are just accusations. “I’ve known David for a long, long time,” said the teacher, who did not want to be named. “He’s a wonderful teacher. It’s alleged, so what does that mean?” A second instructor said he’s never heard a bad word about Marquez. “He’s been here a long time,” the man, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “It’s not unusual to do a private (lesson) at someone’s home. I don’t do it because I don’t want people at my home, but it’s not unusual.” At Marquez’s Fort Washington Ave. address, Leo Fuentes, 44, who lives down the hall, said he didn’t know him well, “but every time we’ve had a conversation, he was a really nice guy. We always have good conversations.”
Marquez choreographed “My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies at Carnegie Hall” for PBS as well as part of a “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” on CBS, the bio says.
An entertainer for three decades, Marquez has also worked on soap operas, danced with Michael Jackson and Jennifer Lopez and appeared in the C+C Music Factory music video for “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” says his biography on the Steps on Broadway website.
He has also choreographed productions of “Seussical,” “A Chorus Line,” Annie Get Your Gun” and “Evita,” across the country, according to his online bios. Marquez was charged with forcible touching and sex abuse, police said.