“He took my childhood from me”

Moving sequence this afternoon on the set of It starts today. Guest of the show presented by Faustine Bollaert, the choreographer Yanis Marshall, former dance teacher of the Star Academybroke down in tears while talking about the sexual abuse he allegedly suffered during his adolescence. On January 25, 2024, Yanis Marshall filed a complaint for “rape and sexual assault of a minor” against her former dance teacher and mentor Bruno Vandelli. The latter denies the facts.

Yanis Marshall under the influence of Bruno Vandelli

Faced with Faustine Bollaert, Yanis Marshall explains that it took ten years to understand what had happened to him because he was “in love” with his dance teacher. “I only had it for artists. A dance teacher, I respected him ten times more than any other person,” he declared. “I quickly became his favorite (…) There was only one for me. I was more than proud of it,” he remembers. “Quickly, there was touching which started in class.” Bruno Vandelli then allegedly lured him to his home to watch a Janet Jackson concert on a bed in his bedroom. “I remember that my legs were starting to tremble (…) There he put his hand on me and he raped me,” confides Yanis Marshall, with tears in his eyes.

The dancer explains that it took years to say the word rape. “It was my lawyer who put the word rape in my mouth. I always said: 'But he didn't hit me, he didn't attack me, he didn't force me' “For me, rape was really equated with violence and this gentleman was never violent with me. On the other hand, he was very manipulative, there was a real influence”, assures Yanis Marshall on the set of Faustine Bollaert.

At the time, the dancer, as a teenager, thought he was experiencing a real love story with Bruno Vandelli, “the only person who mattered to him”. “He took my childhood away from me,” the former teacher confides today. Star Academy. “And he also took away my relationship with my mother, I am very angry with him for that because I was very close to her and he completely destroyed that,” adds Yanis Marshall. More than twenty years ago, his mother sent him directly to the United States when she learned what was happening with Bruno Vandelli. A decision he didn't understand. “I was very aggressive with her (…) It took years to rebuild a relationship with my mother.”

After years of self-destruction, addiction to sex and alcohol, his only escapes, Yanis Marshall decided to break the silence last January. Putting words to his trauma led him on the path to healing. Although he is much better today, the dancer deplores that his name is now associated with that of his alleged attacker. “That kills me,” he confides. “I have worked all my life to have the career I have, all my life I grew up in public housing, today I live very well, I am respected in the world of dance”.