In '74 it was really a very gloomy atmosphere, I would say, to put it mildly.

There comes a moment in a young artist's life when he knows he has to bring something to the stage from within himself. He has to put in something in order to be able to take something.

I read Russian literature a lot.

I want to do exactly what I want to do. I'd rather gamble on the box office than beg for a grant.

I have some Russian friends. But probably only 10 percent. I don't hang out usually in the big Russian communities in Brooklyn and New Jersey.

Nobody is born a dancer.

Obviously, the young dancers lack a certain air of maturity.