Ex-Royal Ballet School pupil reaches financial settlement over body shaming claims

Elphick studied at the Royal Ballet School’s upper school in Covent Garden, for those aged 16 and above, between 2009 and 2012. She had previously spent five years at Elmhurst lower school in Birmingham.

In her first year at the Royal Ballet School, she alleged that she was made to stand in front of a mirror while a teacher pointed out parts of her body that the trainer considered "disgusting" and said she would remove with a knife.

Elphick claimed she was praised in her second year for losing weight, with a teacher even allegedly encouraging the class to clap her efforts, while the ex-pupil said habits including smoking cigarettes to suppress her appetite were endorsed by a staff member.

The pressures Elphick says she suffered over her body allegedly resulted into struggles with disordered eating and body dysmorphia, and led her to pursue a claim against the Royal Ballet School over a breach of its duty of care to her.

Elphick was represented by London and Manchester law firm Leigh Day, specifically abuse team partner Dino Nocivelli, in a case that the solicitors believed to be "the first settlement of its kind for body shaming in ballet".

Although the monetary sum involved has not been disclosed, Elphick’s legal team said the civil claim settlement would be able to help her secure the therapy she had been recommended.

In a statement shared by Leigh Day, Elphick said: "As I reflected on the training I had experienced at the Royal Ballet School, and the eating disorder I developed, I felt there could have been different approaches in teaching in the years I was there.

"I have had children coming to me with issues they had had and I started to realise there is a huge issue for people in my year who had had similar treatment to me.

"I decided to bring a legal claim, which I am making public because I want to bring awareness so that children can go into dance and not leave it damaged as I am."

Nocivelli commented: "The settlement of this case is an important step in finally highlighting not only the body shaming and abuse that so many ballerinas have had to suffer but also the significant impact on them.

"It is time that the ballet community now finally accepts the duty of care it owes to its dancers, accepts where failings have taken place and the harm caused, and changes significantly for the better." 

He went on: "We continue the demand we made in 2023 that the government conducts an inquiry into body shaming and abuse in ballet. We cannot stand by while another generation of ballet dancers suffers. 

"While this may be the first case that has settled ever for body shaming in ballet, we continue to represent a number of ballet dancers and we will continue to fight for our clients’ rights to accountability, justice and closure."