Artist of North Osetia — Alania Republic (2013) etc. Assault Scandal In 2011, Tsiskaridze was a contender for directorship in Bolshoi, but Sergei Filin was chosen to the post. On 30 June 2013, Tsiskaridze left the Bolshoi when his contracts (as a premier dancer and as a ballet teacher) expired and the management decided not to extend them. His relationship with the directors of the theatre had become tense long ago. Tsiskaridze openly criticized the theatre's management for soiling the Bolshoi's repertoire of classics with contemporary works from abroad, for favoritism and bad taste. As a result of his criticism, Tsiskaridze and his students were denied roles, docked pay and prevented from advancing their careers. Tsiskaridze openly criticized the management for a six-year £800m-plus renovation of the theatre that turned out to be of a very low quality and raised serious concerns on theft, corruption and incompetence. In January 2013, the acting artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet Sergei Filin was assaulted, sulphuric acid was thrown into his face. Tsiskaridze was one of the suspects, but he had a strong alibi on the day of the assault. Though the former soloist of Bolshoi Pavel Dmitrichenko confessed to pay for the assault, many believed his confession was forced, and someone staged the whole attack to ruin Tsiskaridze's reputation and get him away from the theatre. Public Positions In July 2011, Tsiskaridze was appointed a member of the President's Council for Culture and Arts. In October 2013, Tsiskaridze was appointed a director of the prestigious Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Saint Petersburg (est. in 1738) by order of the Culture Minister. In a year he was promoted to the full Rector of the institution. In 2014, Tsiskaridze graduated as a Master of Law at Kutafin Moscow State Law University. On 29 November, 2014, Tsiskaridze was formally confirmed as a Rector of the Vaganova Academy in unopposed election, winning 227 of the 244 possible votes which include professors, students and even school canteen workers. Even though his appointment a year earlier caused a scandal, Tsiskaridze won the support of the staff with his hard work and significant results - improving the quality of education at the Academy, raising the funds for the school equipment and furnishing, negotiating various collaborations with other well-known schools and theatres, bringing the new repertoire broadening the range of opportunities for graduates. In March 2014, he signed a