Coming Full Circle

A Russian Immigrant Returns His Daughter to Russia

Written by Heather Bode and Photography by Jacqui Smith

Andrei Shkurigin has happy memories of growing up in the Soviet Union. “The idea of equality was huge. Children were the focus of the entire society because they truly were the future of the country,” he says. Field trips were to places such as the theater, ballet, and operas. As Andrei points out, “The advertisements that I passed by were cool. I never thought, ‘I want my kids to grow up and do this.’”

But that is exactly what has happened. Andrei’s oldest daughter, Sasha, now finds herself at one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world: Moscow State Academy of Choreography…better known as Bolshoi Ballet.

Just how does a boy behind the Iron Curtain come to America, achieve his dreams in a place like Helena, and then why would he send his daughter back to his homeland?

COMING TO AMERICA

After the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, foreign exchange opportunities blossomed. Andrei jumped at the chance to study in America through such a program between Moscow State University and Helena’s Carroll College. At the time, he says he knew “zero English.” But he was not alone. Carroll College had a large population of Russian students-perhaps 20 to 30 who were in similar situations. Andrei spent an entire year studying English and taking language classes before he continued toward his degree. Upon graduation, he married a Glendive native, Annette, and settled into family life.

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Today, their 13-year-old daughter, Sasha, who was born and raised in Helena, finds herself facing a similar opportunity. She is one of only sixteen Americans on Moscow’s campus of 700 students ranging in age from 8 through adult. She takes three hours of Russian language classes each day. This is to prepare her for a Russian proficiency test at the end of the school year. If she passes, she can then stay at the academy and pursue her core classes and continue her formal education completely in Russian. But Sasha has an advantage her father never had: Sasha’s grandmother, who moved to Helena shortly after Sasha’s birth, only speaks Russian. So Sasha has grown up surrounded by the Russian language and traditional Russian meals.

Aside from the language, Sasha’s primary purpose in being at Moscow State Academy of Choreography is to study ballet. This is a direct result of her training at Queen City Ballet in Helena. Campbell Midgley, the Artistic Director and Sasha’s teacher says, “I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Sasha to broaden her artistic horizons.” Since opening Queen City Ballet in 2001, Midgley has trained many of her students to the point where they achieved their dreams of dancing professionally. Sasha may be next.

“I started training in ballet, gymnastics, and soccer when I was 2 or 3,” says Sasha, “Soccer and gymnastics helped me learn what I wanted to focus on. I love dancing. Ballet is a different way of expressing yourself without using words. It’s taught me a lot of discipline.” Her talent and determination in pursuit of her dream of dancing professionally have now poised her for success in Moscow.

A typical day for Sasha begins with ballet technique followed by pointe class. Character dance includes Hungarian and Russian cultural dances. In repertoire, Sasha learns choreography and variations-which are solos from famous ballets. Partnering prepares her for roles with male artists. One of Sasha’s favorite classes is called gymnastics, which is strengthening and intense stretching. After all of these classes (and her three hours of Russian) Sasha returns to her room to do her homework. She is taking her 8th grade classes online this year.

THE BIG PICTURE

How does a young girl keep everything in perspective?

“I always work very hard. Sometimes, I get overly stressed so that’s something I’ll need to work on. I am an over-achiever. Ballerinas, in general, are like this. But my favorite part of ballet is the performance: making every dance your own, using your personality and putting it into your dances. Being on stage makes it all worth it,” she says.

What does Andrei hope for Sasha?

“Seeing my daughter succeed is my ‘American Dream’,” says Andrei,

“The USA is a country of opportunities where any ordinary person, even one from a small town in Montana, is able to tap into these opportunities to provide a better life for his family. The cool part about ballet is that it has no boundaries. It does not belong to one country or another, one culture or another. That’s where the opportunity is: to actually see that art is greater than all of us.”