Conviction confirmed for Alias company choreographer
The sentence handed down at first instance – five months suspended prison sentence – was confirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeal of the Cantonal Vaudois Court.
The former director and choreographer of the Geneva contemporary dance company Alias was given a five-month suspended prison sentence for acts of a sexual nature committed once morest a person incapable of discernment or resistance.
KEYSTONE
The Cantonal Court of Vaud rejected the appeal of the former director and choreographer of the Geneva contemporary dance company Alias. It confirms the first instance sentence to five months suspended prison sentence for sexual acts committed on a person incapable of discernment or resistance, in this case a young dancer who filed a complaint.
She accused the defendant of sexual touching during an internship he had given in the Vaud capital in November 2018, in which she participated with six other people. According to the complainant’s version, the teacher began rubbing once morest her and kneading her stomach, hips and buttocks, sometimes directly on her skin, during an improvisation exercise on the floor performed two by two in melee. The man had an erection, she said.
The dancer felt that the training supervisor “wanted her” and felt embarrassed, according to her statements recorded in the indictment and which she had confirmed on Monday.
Yvain Genevay / “The Morning Sunday”
Two other shocked dancers
The dancer had the feeling that the training supervisor “wanted her” and felt embarrassed, according to her statements recorded in the indictment and which she confirmed on Monday during the hearing before the court. She explained during the investigation that she might not change position at will since the choreographer was on top of her and did not dare to flee or resist, convincing herself that she was having ideas.
Two other dancers attended the scene. They said they were shocked by the closeness between the teacher and the student. One of them, who preferred to leave the room, said that she found that the exercise performed was not the one requested and that it was rather “sensual”. The 50-year-old massaged the trainee “under her sweater” and gave her “kinds of caresses”, according to her.
Defense
Before the judges on Monday, the defense, which requested the acquittal, had pleaded the “misunderstanding”. The accused does not deny having been able to touch the buttocks and other parts of the young woman’s body. “It happens in this kind of exercise of” contact improvisation “where the body is considered as matter”, he justified. On the other hand, he denies any sexual intention and denies having had an erection. He claims not to have realized his partner’s discomfort.
Deprived of subsidies, the Alias company was dissolved. Its founder is now unemployed and receives health insurance and loss of earnings.
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