The renowned Bolshoi ballet is becoming somewhat less renowned after a spate of recent alleged incidents that have left the illustrious Russian theater’s reputation on its knees.

If the court case surrounding an acid attack on the ballet’s artistic director Sergei Filin allegedly ordered by the company’s dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko isn’t bad enough, then this latest claim – that the Bolshoi was essentially a “giant brothel.” The claim has been made by former Bolshoi dancer Anastasia Volochkva who, according to The Independent, said that female dancers were forced to sleep with patrons. She said this on Russian TV.

“It mainly happened with the corps du ballet but also with the soloists. Ten years ago, when I was dancing at the theater, I repeatedly received such propositions to share the beds of oligarchs” Volochkva commented “The girls were forced to go along to grand dinners and given advance warnings that afterwards they would be expected to go to bed and have sex.” Volochkva was asked to leave the ballet in 2003 for being adjudged too heavy. In response to the allegations, the current general director of the theater has hastily dismissed the claims, saying that “I don’t comment on dirt and ravings.” Whether the claims turn out to be true or not, the reputation of the once reputable Bolshoi is now sinking quick, with it now more known for the bitter internal rivalries that are starting to rear their heads in public.