Ever since accusations of sexual harassment and abuse against New York City Ballet's former ballet master in chief Peter Martins surfaced a few months ago, the dance world has been on edge. While NYCB's investigation into those claims could not be corroborated, the turmoil it caused and its aftermath have forced opened ballet's closet of skeletons. In a career that can be so rewarding yet so ruthless, certain aspects of dance culture are taking on a new light.

Many point to the power dynamics between dancers and artistic staff as one reason why artists are vulnerable to mistreatment. Mix job scarcity, intense competition and an extremely disciplined training regime with the fact that dancers are often just teenagers when they start their careers, and it's easy to see how things can become skewed.

During my career, the majority of artistic leaders I worked with were wonderfully supportive mentors who knew how to temper high expectations with encouragement. But I've also been harshly yelled at, ignored and subjected to mind games by others. I've seen colleagues get treated poorly. And when those lines are crossed, you feel like you don't have much leverage. Just yesterday, the Huffington Post detailed harrowing accounts from several former NYCB and Pennsylvania Ballet dancers. Each claimed extreme body shaming and verbal abuse by artistic staff, with one company going so far as to dictate the dancer's method of birth control.