The company’s public soul-searching reached its apogee at Lincoln Center last week at the company’s fall gala, its most important and glittery fund-raiser of the year. When the curtain rose, the company’s dancers were standing on the stage, with an extraordinary message for the packed house.

“With the world changing — and our beloved institution in the spotlight — we continue to hold ourselves to the high moral standards that were instilled in us when we decided to become professional dancers,” Teresa Reichlen, a principal dancer, said as she read a statement that she had written with another dancer, Adrian Danchig-Waring, on behalf of the company.

“We strongly believe that a culture of equal respect for all can exist in our industry,” she continued. “We will not put art before common decency, or allow talent to sway our moral compass.”

Over the past year, revelations about mistreatment and brutish behavior have rocked the world of dance, a discipline that demands both close physical contact and grueling exactitude. Accusations of sexual and verbal harassment at the Paris Opera Ballet surfaced in the spring. The artistic director of the Finnish National Ballet was relieved of his managerial duties after he was accused of making inappropriate remarks to women about their appearance or private lives. (He apologized.) An open letter from several women alleging sexual harassment by the renowned artist and choreographer Jan Fabre has led to government investigations in Belgium. (Mr. Fabre has denied the accusations.)

For New York City Ballet, this has been among the most difficult periods in its history. Company officials said that they do not believe the problems have significantly cut into fund-raising; the fall gala raised $2.3 million, down from last year’s $2.6 million, a decline attributed to other factors. But the abrupt departure of Mr. Martins — who denied wrongdoing and had led the company since before most of its current dancers were born — divided the company, especially after City Ballet said its investigation had not corroborated the accusations against him.