In collaboration with The Toronto Star, AP reporters Martha Mendoza and Juliet Linderman spent months digging into the secretive world of teen dance competitions, combing through court records and interviewing dozens of dancers to reveal a culture of sexual abuse and silence.
In photo at left, Nick Lazzarini, left, and Travis Wall pose for a photo in Los Angeles, Sept. 5, 2012. At right, Misha Gabriel attends the fourth Annual Celebration of Dance Gala in Los Angeles, July 19, 2014. Televised dance shows brought fame to all three, who became big name attractions as Break The Floor instructors. They have since been fired amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
AP Photos / Richard Vogel; Paul A. Hebert/Invision
Focusing on one of the world’s largest dance companies, Break the Floor, Mendoza and Linderman, along with the Star’s Morgan Bocknek, documented sexual misconduct and assault claims against some of the most famous and influential dancers in the United States, including the company’s founder.
The work of getting individuals to tell their stories was painstaking. Some victims spoke to AP but then took their interviews off the record, sending the reporters back to find new sources.
While most interviews remained on background, the sheer number of people who spoke with AP and the Star, and the specifics of the stories they told, were enough to build a strong case that from its founding, Break the Floor fostered, at best, a culture of sexual permissiveness, and at worst, sex abuse.
Gary Schaufeld wipes a tear from his eyes at his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2022, as he shows pictures of himself performing in dance competitions as a youth.
AP Photo / John Minchillo
Gary Schaufeld shows a video of him winning a dance competition in his youth as he describes his time performing, at his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2022. A secret held for 14 years ate away at him: His physical and mental health deteriorated he says. But in 2018 he decided to tell his family and confront tap dancer Danny Wallace, who Schaufeld says sexually assaulted him in 2004. Wallace denied the allegations in an interview and said nothing sexual or physical happened between them.
AP Photo / John Minchillo
Gary Schaufeld stands for a portrait at his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2022. Schaufeld stopped dancing years ago and has no plans to return to the studio.
AP Photo / John Minchillo
Old tap shoes rest on a chair as Gary Schaufeld describes his time as a young performer in dance competitions, at his home in Port Jefferson, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2022.
AP Photo / John Minchillo
In the course of their reporting, as the team zeroed in on company founder Gil Stroming, he suddenly announced he was selling the company and stepping down as CEO. Stroming’s replacement let go at least four prominent choreographers implicated in the story and the company adopted new best practices; all its instructors are now considered mandatory reporters of sex abuse.
Afer the story appeared, all the survivors named in the story, and several who remained anonymous, reached out to thank the reporting team.
The story sent shockwaves through the dance world and was the No. 1 story on AP News the day of publication. Play remained strong for days with nearly 400,000 pageviews, high social media engagement and impressive readership scores.