Ballet dancer pavel dmitrichenko acid

Following a pre-trial hearing, Mr Dmitrichenko's lawyer alleged that the defendant had been beaten by masked police - a claim that the Russian interior ministry has denied.

The day before the trial, lawyer Sergei Kadyrov said: "Dmitrichenko does not consider himself guilty of causing grave harm to Filin's health."

"I hope the court will be able to distance itself from the public resonance of this case and deliver a well-grounded and just verdict."

Mr Filin has had more than 20 operations to try to save his eyesight.

Following treatment in Germany, he returned to Moscow for the inauguration of the Bolshoi's season last month, wearing dark glasses.

At one point, more than 300 members of the Bolshoi Ballet wrote to President Vladimir Putin, saying that the idea that Mr Dmitrichenko was behind the crime was "absurd".

Mr Dmitrichenko has been in custody since March.

A Russian dancer from the Bolshoi Ballet was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for ordering an acid attack that nearly blinded the world-famous Russian dance company’s artistic director.

Pavel Dmitrichenko, who admitted arranging for Sergei Filin to be roughed up, was sentenced along with ex-convict Yury Zarutsky, convicted of executing the attack, who was imprisoned for 10 years, and getaway driver Andrei Lipatov, who will serve four years.

STORY: Bolshoi Ballet Dancer Convicted of Ordering Attack on Artistic Director

As the sentences were read out by Judge Yelena Maximova to a hushed Moscow courtroom Tuesday, the dancer’s mother clasped her hand to her mouth. Dmitrichenko’s father later said he had hoped for a lesser sentence. It was, however, lighter than the nine years demanded by the prosecution.

The three men, all convicted of causing grievous bodily harm, were also ordered to pay $106,000 in damages to Filin. Dmitrichenko’s lawyers said they would appeal his verdict.

During the trial Dmitrichenko, famous in Russian ballet circles for his role as Ivan the Terrible, said he had intended to have Filin roughed up, but denied ordering that acid be used.

Zarutsky, who was revealed to have earlier served seven years in prison for beating another man so badly that he later died from his injuries, said he had come up with the idea himself before going through with the attack in a snowy city courtyard Jan. 17

Dmitrichenko testified that Zarutsky was a casual acquaintance and that he was unaware of his previous conviction.

The trial revealed deep rivalries and bitter envy behind the scenes at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. The court heard that Dmitrichenko had accused Filin of playing favorites.

Last week, dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze detailed the poisonous atmosphere at the theater. He told the court that Filin had denied Dmitrichenk

Victor Hochhauser, who has promoted the Bolshoi in London for 50 years, told BBC News he was sure the Bolshoi under its new director would put the incident behind it.

"Jealousies are not unknown to me in dealing with other companies too, although this is outside the usual norm of jealousies that we know...," he added.

"This incident, tragic though it was, is not going to affect the artistic level of the company in my view."

British ballet critic Ismene Brown said the episode had done considerable damage to the Bolshoi's reputation.

"It's given the impression of a scandalously run and ill-disciplined troupe of essentially internecine rivalries within the company, and also such a chaotic payment system that seems to depend too much on favours and favouritism," she said.

Dancers only get a relatively decent wage if they win roles, she said. But there have been allegations that roles are not always assigned on merit alone, with claims of bribery, sexual relationships and competing factions behind the scenes all playing a part.

"The most important thing that has to be tackled is this payment system," Mrs Brown said.

"The new general director announced just yesterday [Monday] that there is going to be a trade union agreement with all the dancers. That is the best news possible that could come out of this saga. That old corrupt system from the Soviet time has got to be removed."

Another recent scandal, in which US dancer Joy Womack quit the company claiming she was asked for a $10,000 (£6,000) bribe to dance a solo role, has added to the damage to the Bolshoi's reputation.

"The politicians will take this seriously," Mrs Brown said. "The Bolshoi is their biggest cultural export. It earns fortunes and unlimited prestige. It's now a 'dirty' company. That's got to be cleaned up."

In a crime that scandalized Russia and made headlines around the world, Sergei Filin, the artistic director at the famed Bolshoi Ballet, is attacked with acid outside his home in Moscow on January 17, 2013. A dancer at the ballet, Pavel Dmitrichenko, was later convicted for ordering the attack, which revealed deep divisions within the ballet company.

On the evening of January 17, Sergei Filin was returning home when a masked man threw sulphuric acid in his face. At the time, Filin was the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow's most renowned and historic ballet company. Catherine the Great founded the first incarnation of the theater in 1776, and over the centuries the Bolshoi Ballet has set the standard of excellence in Russia's national art form. Ballet was closely associated with the Romanov court in Tsarist Russia; after the Bolshevik revolution and the execution of Tsar Nicholas and his family, the Bolshoi remained an important institution for the ballet-loving public.

Steps away from the Kremlin, the Bolshoi became a distinctly Soviet theater, with new ballets emphasizing the triumph of the Russian worker. In the post-Soviet era, the ballet has preserved its close ties to the ruling elite. Per journalist David Remnick, the Bolshoi Theater has served as a "microcosm of imperial Russia, Soviet Russia, and now, Vladimir Putin's Russia."

The acid attack on Filin exposed fierce conflicts within the company. Pavel Dimitrichenko, the dancer at the Bolshoi, was convicted of orchestrating the attack. Dmitrichenko was upset that his girlfriend, also a dancer, was overlooked for a leading role in Swan Lake. The Bolshoi's dancers must compete with each other for their roles—competition is brutal, especially because dancers are paid per performance. Accusations of favoritism, bribery and partisanship are common.

Over the years, the artistic direction of the theater has also stoked controversy.