That's something that I'm trying to do in my work, to send a message to western people. They're the ones who are completely disconnected.

When I was 14, I thought I looked terrible. I wore these typical Slavic shoes with metal bottoms so you could always hear me coming and this really ugly princess skirt and blouse with the top button closed. I had a boy haircut, a baby face covered with pimples, and a really big nose.

There are two kinds of loss of hope, one is the feeling when your pulse slows down and you are going to die, and there's nothing else left. The other loss of hope is when you're living in a country which becomes insecure, and you don't know what the future is. That's existential.

An artist has to look at the future, to see what we can do better.

You can't choreograph death, but you can choreograph your funeral.

You know, my mother never thought I would do anything good in my life, and I was standing in this opera with four gold medals! If she were alive, maybe she'd think I was doing well!

I believe so much in the power of performance I don't want to convince people. I want them to experience it and come away convinced on their own.