Liam Scarlett, the internationally-known choreographer who left the Royal Ballet last year after claims of sexual misconduct, has died at the age of 35.
His family called it a “tragic, untimely death”. The cause of death has not been disclosed.
A day earlier, the Royal Danish Theatre had reportedly cancelled his show over allegations of unacceptable behaviour.
The Royal Ballet cleared him after an independent investigation, but the British choreographer left the company.
Scarlett had joined the Royal Ballet in 2006 as a dancer and retired six years later to dedicate himself to choreography. The artist-in-residence was responsible for creating some of the company’s major recent shows, including a new production of Swan Lake in 2018.
His work also included Despite, and Consolations and Liebestraum.
But he was suspended from his post in August 2019 after the allegations of misconduct with students emerged. Australia’s Queensland Ballet also cancelled work with him as a result.
On Friday, the Royal Danish Theatre announced it was cancelling a planned production of the ballet Frankenstein, for which Scarlett was the guest choreographer, over alleged misconduct towards its staff in 2018 and 2019, the Times reported.
In a statement announcing the death, the family said: “At this difficult time for all of our family, we would ask that you respect our privacy to enable us to grieve our loss.”
The Royal Opera House said on Twitter: “Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this very sad time.”
The Royal Ballet said it was “deeply saddened to hear the news of Liam Scarlett’s death”.
