18 months in prison for sexual harassment for choreographer Jan Fabre


  • The 63-year-old choreographer and theater director faced accusations from various workers at his dance and show company Troubleyn

Belgian choreographer, author, visual artist and theater director Jan Fabre, 63, He was sentenced this Friday to 18 months in prison for sexual abuse by the Antwerp Criminal Court after numerous employees and former employees, mostly women from his dance and entertainment company Troubleyn, denounced him for “indecent assault”, humiliation, insults, intimidation and sexual blackmail.

The prosecution had requested three years in prison for Fabre, but the court considered that part of the events (some dating back to 2002) had prescribed and also dismissed the accusations of six of the 12 alleged victims. The 18-month prison sentence, according to a copy sent to the press, will have a five-year suspension period, during which Fabre will be deprived of his civic rights.

“We are satisfied with this sentence,” said An-Sofie Raes, one of the lawyers representing the complainants, quoted by the Flemish newspaper ‘De Standaard’.

Fabre, who has taken his productions to major theaters across Europe, was denounced in 2018, following the #Me Too campaign. From the moment the Antwerp Labor Court opened an investigation into alleged abuses, some theaters closed their doors to him, including the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona.

“Humiliation is daily bread”

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Before the complaint, in June 2018, Fabre had denied on television that the figures of the Flemish government were true that in the artistic sector one in four women had been the victim of some type of harassment in the last year. Immediately, a score of former workers made a public letter. “Humiliation is the bread and butter in and around Troubleyn’s rehearsal space. women’s bodies, in particular, they are the target of painful criticism, often overtly sexist, regardless of their actual physical condition.”

Since the 1980s he has been considered one of the most avant-garde artists of his time and is known for his art of provocation. An example was the apology he had to make in 2012 after a performance featuring a “cat throwing” in Antwerp, for the physical harm to the animals. His detractors accuse him of gratuitous provocation, in montages that have very graphically evoked blood and urine, or masturbation on stage.


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