Nikolai Rochenko (Baryshnikov) is a Russian ballet dancer who 8 years earlier had defected to the West. He is in a plane flying over Russia when a malfunction forces the plane to land in Russia where the authorities hold him. Galina Ivanova (Helen Mirren) is in cahoots with the KGB to convince Rochenko to stay in the country and take up his former position as a celebrated Russian dancer. In this scene she describes what his life could in Russia but Rochenko counters that he wants to be free and scream what he feels, like Vysotsky (the singer) does in his songs. She is overcome not only by recognizing the strength of Rochenkos argument but by the artistry and liberation of his dance.