Bolshoi fires premier dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze

MOSCOW, June 10 (UPI) -- Russia's Bolshoi Theatre says it will not renew the contract of premier dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze when his current pact expires at the end of this month.

Tsiskaridze has danced with the company for 20 years but will have to leave the theater June 30 after being notified "no new fixed-term employment contract will be prolonged," the theater's spokesman told RIA Novosti.

Tsiskaridze has been reprimanded in the past for giving media interviews without permission and publicly criticizing the theater.

RIA Novosti said the dancer's fans plan to picket in front of the Bolshoi Theatre next week to protest his ousting.

There was no word on where Tsiskaridze may perform next.