MOSCOW, July 22 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Court has upheld the decision to annul one of the reprimands issued against former top Bolshoi Ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze by the theater management, RAPSI reports from the courtroom on Monday.

The court has thus rejected Tsiskaridze's appeal.

Tsiskaridze filed a lawsuit against the Bolshoi Theater in March, asking the court to annul two official reprimands issued against him by the theater management in February for giving interviews to the press.

When the parties failed to settle the dispute out of court, the court annulled one of the reprimands on April 12. Tsiskaridze said it was unfair that the court did not annul the second reprimand and added that he would appeal the ruling.

On April 16, he was reprimanded again for speaking to journalists.

On June 9, Russia's Bolshoi Theater announced it would not sign a new contract with Tsiskaridze following months of legal disputes and scandals.

The confrontation between the management and the dancer intensified after an acid attack on Bolshoi Theater Artistic Director Sergei Filin in January. Filin suffered third degree burns to his face and eyes. The media reported that Tsiskaridze may have been involved in the attack.

Some media outlets reported that, according to the dancer, the theater's press office and Director Anatoly Iksanov were using the situation for their personal benefit, seeking to place the blame for the criminal act on people employed by the theater. The Bolshoi administration stated that they were not waging a crusade against Tsiskaridze.

However, Iksanov said in February that the acid attack was the "natural result of the mayhem that had been stirred up ... by Nikolai Tsiskaridze." Tsiskaridze hit back, accusing Iksanov of trying to damage his reputation and to settle the score.

Tsiskaridze has been a dancer with the Bolshoi Theater since 1992.