La Scala fires ballerina for claiming anorexia is rife at its school

Mari­afrancesca Gar­rit­ano, who also writes as Mary Gar­ret,

has been sacked by La Scala for defamation after making repeated claims that one in five of the pupils at its ballet school were suffering from anorexia when she studied there, and that the wasting disease was common in the company. Some ballerinas, she said, could not fall pregnant as a result of the deprivation they suffered at school.

Several ex-colleagues have rushed to denounce her, reports Milan artsblog Gramilano, but other voices have been raised in support. Almost every fact in the matter is contested.

In ballet, as in fashion, the A-word is an unmentionable. It may well be that La Scala has shot the messenger and let the rot continue.