As choreographer Eddy Toussaint faces a second charge of sexual assault, the school and ballet troupe he founded distance themselves and change their name. Shows have also been withdrawn from the poster in the wake of the charges, but the management believes that it is unfair to penalize the dancers.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
Me Patricia Johnson, spokesperson for the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), indicates that Mr. Toussaint now faces two counts of sexual assault against two separate victims. These are only identified by the initials L.-P. L. and A. G., and the charges relate to events that took place between 2015 and 2017.
The Laval Police Service (SPL) announced earlier this month that Mr. Toussaint had been arrested and appeared in July in connection with one of these charges. He was released “with several conditions to respect” and is due to appear in court again in November.
The victim in this case was a man “in his twenties who aspired to a future in dance”, whom Mr. Toussaint had taken under his wing. “Over time, the suspect allegedly pressured the victim to have sex with him,” the SPL said in a statement, adding that it was looking for other potential victims.
On Sunday, the school’s and Ballet Eddy Toussaint’s general manager, Timothy Tompkins, announced that they were changing their names to Conservatoire Ballet Tompkins and Ballet Tompkins du Québec, respectively.
Mr. Toussaint stepped down as chairman of the organization’s board of directors and his role as a professor in the wake of the announcement of the charges, Mr. Tompkins said at what was to be initially be the inauguration of the school’s new studios.
An “unfair” situation
Ville de Laval nevertheless withdrew the poster and suspended the sale of tickets for the show Draculawhich the troupe was to present in October at the Maison des arts, “in order to take the time to analyze all the impacts caused by the major accusations made against Mr. Toussaint”.
Performances of the show Nutcracker in December are also at risk, according to management. The school also lost pupils, without being able to say how many.
“We are trying to negotiate with the City of Laval because we have already said that it is not fair that if someone is accused, it is not a company that should suffer,” lamented the director general. It would be “a pity”, according to him, to prevent dancers and students from performing, especially after so many missed opportunities due to the pandemic.
“It’s unfair,” drops Emeric Marchand, a dancer in the troupe. “It pains me, it disappoints me,” he says, highlighting all the work of the past few years.
The City of Laval wants to be reassuring
Invited to react, the City of Laval said it wanted to “reassure professionals and artists in the dance community since it intends to continue its essential support for the many productions carried out on its territory”.
“The City received the information requested from the organization on Friday and is currently carrying out verifications in connection with the governance presented,” said spokesperson Alexandre Banville. “The City morally supports any victim of sexual abuse to report these situations to the competent authorities. »
A dozen people showed up at the Sunday school studios in Laval, including singer Patsy Gallant. She described Mr. Toussaint as “an extraordinary man”, and expressed her support. “The #metoo movement was very necessary, is still necessary, she added, but I find that sometimes there are abuses. »