MOSCOW, April 17 - RAPSI. Top dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze will contest a new reprimand from his employer, the Bolshoi Ballet, in court, the dancer's attorney Svetlana Volodina told RAPSI on Wednesday.

She said the dancer received the reprimand for saying he was ready to head the company in an interview with NTV TV channel. The Bolshoi refused to comment on the issue to RIA Novosti.

He was also twice reprimanded for giving interviews to the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily, the BBC and Sovershenno Sekretno monthly. In late March, Tsiskaridze filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke the reprimands. At one point, it was thought that the parties were ready to make an amicable settlement.

However, this did not come about, and the case was heard in court, as a result of which, one of the reprimands was annulled. Volodina told RAPSI after the hearing they were going to appeal the ruling.

Last January, Tsiskaridze told RIA Novosti that he had been regularly harassed by the Bolshoi Theater management. The dispute between the management and the dancer escalated after Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the ballet company, was assaulted.

On January 17, an assailant threw what is believed to have been concentrated sulfuric acid in Filin's face as he was about to enter his home. Filin suffered third degree burns. Tsiskaridze was rumored to have been involved in the incident.

Some reports noted that Tsiskaridze has accused the Bolshoi Theater Press Office and General Director Anatoly Iskanov of trying to cash in on the situation by blaming the tragedy on people who work at the theater.

The management has previously stated that they were not running a smear campaign against Tsiskaridze.