Teachers at Russia's legendary Vaganova Ballet Academy on Tuesday published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin asking him to reconsider the appointment of a controversial dancer as its chief, in a scandal that has plunged Russian ballet into new turmoil.

The recent appointment by the Russian culture ministry of the outspoken Nikolai Tsiskaridze, a prominent male dancer who was dismissed by Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in June, has caused an uproar.

Critics have accused Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky of ruthlessly firing the respected previous directors of the Saint Petersburg-based Academy in a scheme masterminded by the powerful pro-Putin chief of the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev.

The Vaganova is the main provider of newly graduated dancers to Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre.

The letter, signed by professors and teachers at the Vaganova as well as ballet performers from the Mariinsky Theatre, said the move wreaks "irreversible damage on the Academy's artistic potential, breaks the continuity of tradition at the school and is an unacceptable, if not criminal, decision."

The culture ministry appointed Tsiskaridze, a celebrity dancer widely known through frequent appearances as a judge on TV talent shows, as the Vaganova's rector and the Mariinsky prima ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina as its artistic director.

It appears that Russian cultural officials were desperate to find a top new job for Tsiskaridze, who reportedly enjoys the patronage of the wife of a top businessman close to the Kremlin.

One of Russia's leading ballet reviewers on Tuesday published an article highly critical of Tsiskaridze, alleging he was a poor teacher and messy repetiteur whose pupils had suffered under his tuition.

"The ex-Bolshoi dancer and teacher's reputation is not quoted quite so high in the professional ballet world as his admirers and state officials and their wives would have you believe," Tatyana Kuznetsova wrote in Kommersant Vlast magazine.

Arguably the most legendary ballet school in the world, the Vaganova Academy traces its history back to 1738 and takes its current name from the great ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova. It has produced scores of star dancers over the years, including iconic ballerinas like Anna Pavlova and male dancers like Mikhail Baryshnikov.

AFP