“It can feel particularly risky — both emotionally and career wise — to be a whistle-blower within our field,” Wendy Whelan, a 30-year star dancer with the company who retired in 2014, said. “We aren’t encouraged to use our voice to expose the dark side of what is also truly a magical industry for the sake of hurting our father-figure teachers.”

“The tradition of balletic patriarchy has held a closet full of skeletons,” she added. “In recent light of things, many artists and dancers are seeing that society is no longer accepting these kind of behaviors as normal, so why do we?”

Several former ballet dancers said in the recent interviews that Mr. Martins was known for having intimate relationships with dancers, some of whom seemed to receive better roles. The relationships were complicated by a power dynamic, they said, in which Mr. Martins was widely viewed as a near deity, particularly to young dancers who might go to any length — from starving themselves to having sex with him — to earn his praise and attention.

City Ballet leaders, before the announcement, said the lawyer heading their investigation, Barbara Hoey, was engaged “in a good-faith effort to investigate recent allegations against Peter Martins”; that the company “prohibits retaliation” against participants; and that it encourages “anyone with relevant information to come forward.”

Beyond its legendary founder, George Balanchine, there is no one who has done more to shape the company than Peter Martins. His history with City Ballet dates to 1967, when he was invited to dance the title role in Balanchine’s “Apollo” at the Edinburgh Festival. He became a principal dancer in 1970, widely acclaimed for his expert partnering and masculine grace.

After the death of Balanchine in 1983, Mr. Martins took over leadership of the company with Jerome Robbins; in 1989, he became the sole ballet master in chief. Mr. Martins has also served as the artistic director and chairman of the school’s faculty.