Yat-Sen Chang appears in court charged with assaulting three females at dance school

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

A former English National Ballet principal dancer accused of sexually assaulting three females at a London dance school has appeared in court.

Yat-Sen Chang, 48, was granted conditional bail after a short hearing at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday.

The Cuban national has been charged with 14 counts of sexual assault on a female aged 16 or over.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place at the West London School of Dance between December 2014 and December 2016.

According to a court listing of the charges, Chang, who lives in the German port city of Kiel with his partner, is accused of nonconsensual “sexual” touching.

The alleged offences relate to three female complainants, the court heard on Thursday.

Chang spoke only to give his full name to the court as Yat-Sen Chang Oliva, his address, date of birth and to confirm his nationality as Cuban.

No formal pleas were entered during the short proceedings, but Chang’s lawyer, Catherine Daly, indicated he would be pleading not guilty to the charges.

According to a profile on the German Theater Kiel website, Chang was born in Matanzas, Cuba, and was part of the Cuban National Ballet between 1989 and 1992.

In 1993, the father-of-one joined the English National Ballet, where he performed in productions including The Nutcracker, Coppélia and Sleeping Beauty, and was a principal dancer until 2011.

He joined the Ballet Kiel in 2017, where he is listed as a dancer with the company.

In 2013, he set up Yat-Sen Chang Dance Company which had a registered address in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, with Companies House.

The company’s filing history shows it was dissolved in 2015.

District judge Angus Hamilton sent Chang’s case to Isleworth crown court, where he is due to appear on 6 February.

Chang was granted bail on condition he does not contact the three complainants directly or indirectly .