La Scala dancers deny anorexia is rampant

MILAN — Accusations by a prima ballerina at La Scala that one in five dancers is anorexic has startled the dance corps, which denied the disease is an issue at the theater.

The dancers said in a statement Wednesday they were "flabbergasted and embittered" over Mariafrancesca Garritano's statements in media interviews and a book that anorexia was rampant, calling it "a campaign against the theater and the dance world in general."

La Scala said the 33-year-old dancer was fired last month after continuing to make false statements about the theater that it considered damaging to its reputation.

The dancers say "there is no emergency of anorexia, and whoever is part of our reality knows it well."