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people about the drug problem, and people will say how sad and awful it is. Here? People
think it's better to just take addicts to an island to execute them. And the government is
really not guilty. It's the Russian mentality. A Russian starts thinking about how to help a
disabled person, or an addict, only if the person appears in
his
family.”
Another young man, on the couch directly in front of me, is also named Vitaly. He's no-
ticeably thin, though not in an unhealthy way—he almost looks like a ballerina. As I speak
to the others he keeps staring at me, listening intently, until it's his turn.
“Since my childhood, I danced. I traveled and performed in the U.S.—in Florida. Miami
and Orlando.”
Sergei translates, then asks him, “You speak English?”
“A little.”
Vitaly gives it a try. “I start drugs in fifteen years old. I lose everything.” He pauses.
“May I speak Russian?”
Of course, we tell him.
He explains that after his trips abroad as a child dancer he performed around Rus-
sia—but began trying drugs in the dressing rooms. He couldn't stop and ended up on the
streets instead of in performance halls.
“What was the drug, Vitaly?”
“Heroin. My mother wanted the police to lock me up. She didn't know what to do with
me.”
He finally found this rehab center but escaped from the program. Twice.
Now he's back for a third time, at this cold outpost, miles from anything, with every
excuse in the world to feel hopeless. But he doesn't. He says he's going to see the program
through this time. He's determined the world hasn't seen the last of his Russian dance
moves.
“After rehab, you're going to dance again?”
He goes back to English.
“I really hope. Really hope and trust in this.”
“What kind of dancing?”
“Ballroom.”
“You know, my wife, Rose, really wants us to learn ballroom dancing. Maybe you can
teach me sometime?”
He wiggles his hips and arms on the couch. “Cha-cha-cha,” he says. The room erupts in
laughter. “It's easy,” he says.
“Maybe for
you
, not for me!”
The two of us exchange smiles and agree to stay in touch about scheduling that first les-
son.
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