Pointe and Heels

She is a ballerina. By day — the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, the barre, pointe shoes, the smell of rosin, and dreams of the Mariinsky stage. By night — she is Maria, a dancer in St. Petersburg's elite clubs, where her body becomes a commodity and dance becomes a tool for survival.St. Petersburg is a city of contrasts. Majestic palaces and shadowy courtyards, the glimmer of the Neva and the...