Principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze is seeking to annul reprimands made by the company in the wake of the acid attack on its artistic director, accusing the Bolshoi of trying to drive him out
One of the Bolshoi's principal dancers has launched legal proceedings against the company after facing accusations over the acid attack on artistic director Sergei Filin.
Nikolai Tsiskaridze was twice reprimanded by the company over interviews he had given in the wake of the attack on Filin in January and is now seeking to have them annulled. Under Russian labour laws, a third reprimand would be cause for dismissal.
Tsiskaridze has previously claimed that the attack was used as the pretext for a "witch-hunt" against him, and compared the theatre's atmosphere to that of Stalinist Russia.
Bolshoi director Anatoly Iksanov gave an interview in February in which he described the incident as "a logical result of the excesses created above all by … Tsiskaridze," and chastising the dancer for "mud-slinging".
Tsiskaridze was questioned by police as a possible witness in January, before another leading soloist at the theatre, Pavel Dmitrichenko, was charged with organising the attack and paying two men to undertake it, though he denies ordering them to use acid.
Tsiskaridze petitioned a Moscow court to annul his two written warnings yesterday, but a spokesperson for the Bolshoi suggested to Sky News that the theatre could settle out of court if Tsiskaridze drops the case.
That news came as a surprise to his lawyer, Svetlana Volodina, who said, "For us the information about the possibility of an out-of-court settlement, voiced by the representative of Bolshoi, was unexpected."
"We will be asking to write in this document that all of the notices are overruled."
Filin is currently still in Germany, receiving further treatment as doctors fight to restore his sight. He has spoken of his determination to return to his job at the Bolshoi.
via The Guardian World News http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/apr/10/bolshoi-dancer-sues-acid-attack-witch-hunt
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