Ballet Star Moves Past Pain for a New Stage: Science
During her teenage years, Miko Fogarty was a rising star in the ballet world. A slender rod of lightning in a tutu and bun. She had a huge social media presence: 300,000 followers on Instagram. Her YouTube videos got more than 20 million views. At 18, she landed her dream job, leaving Northern California to join the Birmingham Royal Ballet in the U.K. But then, she left the company after just one year, and no longer appeared on the stage.
KQED arts and culture reporter Chloe Veltman found Miko in a very unexpected place. And she also found out something disturbing about a former coach of Miko’s. A man named Viktor Kabaniaev. On our show this week, Chloe explores the unbearable pressures Miko has faced, and how those pressures changed her in ways she could never have imagined. It’s ballet’s #MeToo moment.