Quote

We just kind saw the images and knew the cliches, so to have the opportunity to go there and learn something about Russian music and about Russian people and to see things apart from being a tourist.

I love the dancers in the Bolshoi, but all of my Moscow friends are outside the company. A friend introduced me to Vika Gazinskaya, a well-known Russian designer. I met her group. The rest is history.

There is a very strong theatre-going tradition in Moscow. It has stayed strong.

I took a Russian class at Notre Dame. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fly someday in a Russian spacecraft with two cosmonauts, speaking only Russian.

Moscow is a huge inspiration for me. I love what I find here, I love being here.

When I went to Moscow, I felt I was relearning Swan Lake - which was written for the Bolshoi - and being immersed in a tradition and history I had never experienced. It took a while to adjust to living there and learning the language, but now I have lots of friends. I get the best of two completely different worlds.

My biggest entertainment in Moscow was to go to the subway and watch people. When American students visited, I watched them; I learned English from them.

We loved being in Russia and would love to go back again, especially to visit my namesake.

I came to Moscow when I was 5 years old from Baku. To walk all night in Moscow will bring back my youth to me.