MOSCOW, May 22 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Court will hear an appeal filed by Bolshoi Ballet's Nikolai Tsiskaridze against a ruling that annulled only one of the two management reprimands, on July 2, the Tverskoy Court spokesperson Yekaterina Korotova told RAPSI on Wednesday.

Tsiskaridze filed a lawsuit against the Bolshoi Theatre 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. Multiple reprimands can be grounds for dismissal under Russian labor laws.

The confrontation between theater 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 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 unleashing a crusade against Tsiskaridze.

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

Tsiskaridze has been dancing at the Bolshoi Theater since 1992.