The ballerina says she could not imagine life without ice-cream

Anastasia Volochkova, one of Russia's best-known ballerinas, has been publicly feuding with the theatre over a new contract.

Earlier this month she claimed her dance partner had been hidden by the Bolshoi as part of a plot to stop her performing.

"Her physical form is definitely a serious problem," Bolshoi director Anatoly Iksanov told Russian television in remarks reported by news agency AFP.

"Classical ballet is intended for duets, with many lifts, and the ballet's artists are not in condition to support this, since they themselves are worried about their physical form," Mr Iksanov added.

"I don't consider it moral to force them to do so."

But Ms Volochkova has hit back. "Each time, in different interviews, I am given an extra centimetre, first five, now 12," she said.

"The director is starting to make up excuses to stop me working at this theatre," she added.

Unlike most ballerinas, who are notorious for watching their weight, Ms Volochkova has said she could not imagine life without ice cream.

Her spokesman said she was 169 cm (5 feet 7 inches) tall and weighed 50 kg (110 pounds), Reuters reported.

The Russian press has speculated that Ms Volochkova's size may be just one part of the story.

The business paper Kommersant reported recently that the theatre bosses had trouble dealing with her equally large ego.