DIRTY DANCER
Ballerina: He took secret sex pix, shared with pals
A sordid new lawsuit charges the “worst nightmare of any woman” was a constant reality for ballerinas at the New York City Ballet — surreptitious, sexually explicit photos snapped and shared freely by their male colleagues.
A 19-year-old dancer, in a sleazy depiction of the venerable ballet as little more than an artsy “Animal House,” portrayed the organization as a perverted “breeding ground” for the sexual degradation of female dancers by their twisted male colleagues.
Alexandra Waterbury alleged she was victimized by hard-partying dancer Chase Finlay — named as codefendant along with the ballet company. Finlay, who dated Waterbury for a year while allegedly taking intimate photos and videos of the Columbia University student without her knowledge, resigned suddenly from the ballet last week.
The raunchy accusations include an account of a text message in which a top ballet donor wrote to Finlay, suggesting the pair purchase “like half a kilo (of cocaine) and pour it over the girls and just violate them … I bet we could tie some of them up and abuse them like farm animals,” according to the 40-page Manhattan Supreme Court suit filed Wednesday.
“Or the sluts they are,” replied Finlay.
Finlay, in another exchange, suggested he and another male dancer “double team” a religious young female dancer and videotape the sexual encounter.
And the lawsuit charges that Finlay instigated the widespread exchange of the nude photos and videos taken without the consent of their victims.
“You have any pictures of girls you've f---ed?” Finlay wrote with a naked photo of Waterbury sent to male ballet colleagues. “I'll send you some ballerina girls I've made scream.”
The Waterbury suit, seeking unspecified damages, detailed how the top male performer and other men affiliated with the group swapped the explicit nude photos with one another — and in one instance, with a local pimp.
Even worse, the lawsuit alleged, the New York City Ballet turned a blind eye to the sex-crazed shenanigans while sending a message that male dancers “could degrade, demean, mistreat and abuse, assault and batter women without consequence.”
The New York City Ballet on Wednesday said it was “confident” there was no basis for the suit, and “vehemently denies the allegations that the company has condoned, encouraged, or fostered the kind of activity that Mr. Finlay and the others named have participated in, which were off-hours activities that were not known, approved, or facilitated by NYCB,” it said in a statement.
“Despite that, once NYCB was made aware of the allegations we investigated them and found that the actions had violated the company’s norms of conduct, and immediate and appropriate action was taken. NYCB learned of this matter directly from the plaintiff’s attorney, Jordan Merson, in June of this year. Merson had contacted NYCB to try to negotiate a payment from the company to settle the matter to avoid adverse publicity, but NYCB refused the demand. ”
Merson told The News Wednesday that “this lawsuit has nothing to do with Ms. Waterbury’s rebuffed attempt to obtain peace and closure with the ballet, and has nothing to do with the ballet ‘avoiding adverse publicity’ and has everything to do with her seeking redress from the ballet.”
A phone message left for the 27-year-old Finlay was not returned.
Dancers Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro were suspended at the same time that Finlay resigned, with the ballet chairman announcing the trio “had violated the norms of conduct that the New York City Ballet expects from its employees.”
The lawsuit quoted Ramasar as texting Finlay on May 21 asking for more shots of teen ballerina Waterbury: “I love you! Text me those photos/videos!!” Waterbury only learned of the vile videos and photos that same month.
According to the lawsuit, the naked photos of female dancers began appearing regularly on the email chain after a Sept. 3, 2017, message from Finlay.
A ballet company worker even wrote to Finlay that he was masturbating to video of Waterbury engaging in sexual acts with the male dancer.