Kip Gamblin in sexual harrassment scandal (he was the victim!)

[Natalia]

Basically, Stanton Welch is a HUGE name in the ballet world. Read the bolded bits for the Kip Gamblin parts.

I used to work with Stanton Welch and Kip right when all of this was going on, but it was all hushed up.

The Australian

Ballet director faces new sex claim

Deborah Jones

April 21, 2006

THE Australian artistic director of Houston Ballet, Stanton Welch, has been accused of sexually harassing a principal dancer in his company, 10 years after a similar incident was reported at the Australian Ballet.

Welch "strenuously" denied the earlier allegations, which were revealed in 1998.

He declined to comment on the allegations to The Houston Chronicle, but the president of the Houston Ballet Foundation, Jay Jones, told the newspaper that the claims were "baseless".

Welch has led the Texas company since 2003.

The dancer, identified in the newspaper report as Zdenek Konvalina, has filed a suit against the Houston Ballet Foundation citing "unwelcome, unsolicited and untoward sexual advances" and claiming that his complaints to ballet management were ignored and the environment at work had become hostile.

Mr Jones was reported as saying the foundation would "defend (the claims) vigorously".

In May 1998, an Australian newspaper reported that Welch, then a resident choreographer with the AB, had sexually and verbally harassed dancer Kip Gamblin. The events were said to have taken place in 1996.

Gamblin and Welch signed a confidential agreement and Gamblin left the AB and went on to appear in the television series Home and Away. He recently moved to Britain.

Welch is now an internationally sought-after choreographer whose work has been presented by leading companies including American Ballet Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

He was most recently in Australia in September to stage a new version of The Sleeping Beauty for the AB.

AB artistic director David McAllister told The Australian yesterday the experience of working with Welch was "fantastic". "The dancers were very happy with Stanton. Since he became artistic director of Houston Ballet his manner of working has been wonderful. Stanton has very much matured as an artist."

McAllister, who was a principal dancer with the AB at the time of the allegations, said the confidential settlement precluded any discussion about it. He expressed strong support for Welch. "The proof is that we've continued to commission him and have a very good relationship with him."

Asked about rumours that before he left the AB Welch had at times been difficult to work with, McAllister responded that there "are certain people who will always be unhappy".

In the Houston Chronicle article, Mr Jones is reported as saying the company was aware of the Gamblin incident when it hired Welch.

"We checked with the management of the Australian Ballet and received the director's assurance that they could find nothing to corroborate the story," Mr Jones told the newspaper.

"What we found comforting was that they continued to employ Stanton. And they still have a very good relationship with him."

Welch has been extremely well received in Houston, creating a number of new ballets including a Swan Lake that premiered in February and a ballet on Texan themes that endeared him to local audiences.

The company reports that subscriptions to the ballet have risen more than 40 per cent since his arrival.

NineMSN

Aussie ballet director faces sex claim

Friday Apr 21 06:40 AEST

The Australian artistic director of a US ballet company has been accused of sexually harassing a principal male dancer.

Houston Ballet principal dancer Zdenek Konvalina, 27, filed the sexual harassment suit alleging he had been subjected to "unwelcome, unsolicited and untoward sexual advances" from Stanton Welch, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Welch, 36, is a former choreographer with the Australian Ballet.

In the suit, Konvalina also alleges his complaints to Houston Ballet managing director Cecil Conner were ignored and that he was "subsequently retaliated against and subject to a hostile work environment", the paper reported.

The suit filed against the Houston Ballet Foundation on April 10 requests unspecified monetary damages.

Welch and Conner declined to comment to the Houston Chronicle but Houston Ballet Foundation president Jay Jones said the claims were "baseless".

"... We will defend them vigorously," Jones said.

Welch, 36, an internationally sought after choreographer, faced similar allegations before he started with the Houston Ballet Foundation in 2003.

In 1998, an Australian newspaper reported Australian Ballet dancer Kip Gamblin and Welch, then a resident choreographer with the company, signed a confidential agreement after Gamblin complained he had been sexually harassed.

Gamblin later became an actor on the popular Australian soap Home and Away, and he danced in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge, the Chronicle reported.

The paper said it was unable to contact Gamblin for comment.

Jones said the Houston Ballet Foundation was aware of the Gamblin incident when it hired Welch.

"We checked with the management of the Australian Ballet and received the director's assurance that they could find nothing to corroborate the story," the Chronicle quoted Jones as saying.

"What we found comforting was that they continued to employ Stanton. And they still have a very good relationship with him."

Jones said the Houston Ballet Foundation's executive committee supported Welch's vision, adding that season subscriptions have risen 41 per cent in his first three seasons.