Liam Scarlett’s family announced on Friday that the choreographer had died in his UK hometown of Ipswich. He had turned 35 just a week earlier. Scarlett had been for a decade one of the most feted young British choreographers both at home and abroad until allegations of sexual misconduct brought his career to an abrupt end.

His death has brought an outpouring of grief and soul-searching from many in the dance world, including from Alexei Ratmansky, widely considered to be the leading classical choreographer working today. On Sunday he wrote on Facebook: “How is it possible that the whole ballet world, all of us, turned our backs on such an amazing talent, forcing him to die so young?! Shame and sadness … RIP Liam.”

Liam Scarlett on the set on A Midsummer Night’s Dream in New Zealand. Photograph © Stephen A’Court

Scarlett’s home company had been The Royal Ballet, where he was a dancer for six years before retiring in 2012 to become the RB’s first Artist in Residence. The RB suspended him when allegations of impropriety involving students at the Royal Ballet School were first raised in August 2019. When the allegations...