“On the eve of her first trip to North America, 25-year-old prima ballerina Altinay Asylmuratova stashed cans of soup, vegetables and tea in her suitcases. She wasn’t anticipating starvation abroad. She just wanted to be able to spend her per diem travel allowance on presents such as videotape recorders from the decadent West, because neither Altinay nor many of her 130 compatriots in the renowned Kirov Ballet of Leningrad had ever performed or traveled in North America.”

(Source: theballetblog)