Dancer waits eight years for revenge on woman who ended her career

A woman whose dancing career was ruined when a rival shoved her off stage and broke her ankle waited eight years to get her revenge.

Landon LaRue dreamed of being a dancer since she was a toddler and twirled her way into a company at the age of 17.

But all of that was ripped away from her when a colleague pushed her off stage for talking to her love interest.

Her broken ankle left her unable to dance and she ended up having to leave the company.

Landon, now 35, eventually got her own back nearly a decade later when she heard through a mutual friend that her nemesis was getting married.

The digital marketing manager then contacted all her wedding suppliers just three days before the big day to cancel – ruining the ceremony.

‘I always wanted to be a dancer. My mom still has pictures of me performing when I was two or three years old,’ said Landon, from Los Angeles.

After being enrolled in classes throughout her childhood, she made into her dance company at just 17 years old and was the youngest there.

Landon said she was shoved by a dancer, who was 20 at the time, as she talked to a colleague her attacker ‘had a crush on’.

‘We were just friends, I didn’t have a car so he would drive me to church,’ she added.

‘She ran up and did a cartoon-ish hip bash and pushed me off the stage while taking my place.’

‘At first, I didn’t feel anything because of the adrenaline but then it started to hurt and my ankle was swollen.

‘Everyone thought I was overreacting until I started to cry and I was taken to the hospital.’

Landon broke her ankle and was devastated when she realised she’d have to drop out of the dance company as she would be in recovery for too long.

‘I went off to university and danced as a back up option but eventually realised I wouldn’t be a dancer as I still couldn’t point my foot – and can’t to this day,’ she added.

Landon fell into a depression and developed an eating disorder as well as a fear of heights in the aftermath of the incident.

‘The girl never apologised for what she did. I would have fantasies of her falling off the stage but never actually planned on doing anything,’ she added.

She only spotted her opportunity to exact revenge when a mutual friend at the company told her she was the maid of honour at the rival’s wedding.

Landon said: ‘She wasn’t even getting married to the guy she had pushed me off the stage for and she had left dancing to be a teacher.

‘She didn’t even live the life she sacrificed my career for and I was angry. My friend had the wedding binder and left me alone with it.’

Landon took pictures of every page and waited three days before the wedding to call practically every vendor to cancel.

The photographer was a family member, so she didn’t contact them, but still she’d called more than enough people.

‘She had no flowers, linen, make-up artist, venue or caterer but still had to pay for their services,’ said Landon.

‘Some time after the wedding the maid of honour told me that the couple had wed in her back garden, and that she had to do her own hair and make up.’

Eventually the bride found out who was responsible, and Landon apologised, despite the career ruining incident.

The saboteur added: ‘She said it was the worst day of her life and I did feel bad about what I had done. I wanted to bury the hatchet.

‘She had just given birth to her first baby and was feeling empathetic so she didn’t press charges. I’ve moved on and wouldn’t do anything like that again, I’m over it.

‘The incident scarred me for life and installed a fear of heights and eating disorder but I’ve learned how to process things after years of therapy and would act differently.

‘If I had my time again, I would probably have sued her for the shove instead of plotting a long revenge.’

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