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I started working really, really hard — New York was very competitive. It was a fantastic time. CA: I'm curious; how did you first come to Canada? That was quite interesting because I was the only Latin American, the only Colombian — the other exchange participants were all American.
We could not fly in from the U. That was my first view of Canada, in I had to spend two weeks in Montreal to get my visa from the Russian consulate and then fly from Montreal to Moscow. I spent two wonderful weeks in Montreal. I came to the city fresh from New York into this laid-back Latin vibe and beautiful architecture — the people were nice, and I felt more at home.
But off I went to Tbilisi and had the opportunity to see some incredible dancers — all of them were Baryshnikov types, doing fifteen or twenty tours parterre. I was a young man, and I loved the physicality of their dancing. I loved to fly; that was my strength. I could jump and hold it. I wanted to be Nijinsky … the notion of levitation really attracted me, and the drama of the ballets — having a narrative line to follow, having rules and structures to follow, telling the story, basically.
I was very engaged with the ballet and the opera. We learned a lot and saw how hard the Russian artists' lives were too. We also went to Moscow — to the Bolshoi Theatre. We visited the school and met young dancers. We had the opportunity to see the company at work and attended performances of Romeo and Juliet , Swan Lake and other classics. Then we went to Leningrad to see the ballet school there, and again, all the training with the kids.
