"I danced in marquees, churches and squares. I was a pioneer of decentralisation. I didn't want my work to be elitist, relegated to the golden boxes of opera theatres. And even when I was busy on the world's most important stages, I always came back to Italy to perform in the most forgotten and unimaginable places. Rudolf Nureyev would scold me: why are you doing this, you're getting too tired, you come from New York and you have to go to, I don't know, Budrio... But I liked it that way, and the audience always rewarded me."