[ - Are you fully satisfied with your popularity in Moldova?] We are not in demand in Moldova. I think that the Moldovan market is only developing, reason for which I cannot maintain a professional team. If we were in demand, I could pay decent salaries to the dancers at least. It happens that we have no concert for about two months and can only dance for barter. For example, a television channel broadcasts our advertisement and we dance at a concert free of charge. Of course, I would like the Moldovan market to be at least like the Romanian one, where singers like Ana Lesko give performances every day. Our image in Moldova is not worse than Ana Lesco’s, but we are not in demand. To give you a picture of our situation, I can say that during the past four months we had almost the same number of invitations to perform in Romania than in Moldova, but we could not go for the simple reason that we could not obtain visas. We tried to get visas two times, but we did not manage to because we had to wait for a long time outside, in the cold. But from spring we intend to go to Romania two-three times a month. [ - Are you popular abroad?] We are invited to give performances only in Romania and Ukraine. The other countries do not invite us because they don’t know about us as we do not appear on TV, do not send DVDs. Starting with the jubilee concerts that will be given at the National Palace on February 10 and 20, I will film the performances and send the materials abroad – with better costumes, more emotion and synchronisation. I want to promote the band abroad in order not to lose my crew. I have spent a lot of time and my own money to promote the young dancers, but I cannot keep them because they cannot do without money. This is the situation in Moldova, where the dancers cannot earn at least a subsistence wage. [ - Are the dancers in demand abroad?] Yes, they are. My dancers are tempted to go abroad as they receive invitations. But I’m angry that many offers come from striptease clubs. I want to sign contracts with the dancers so that they commit themselves to dancing at least a year and a half in the band and I could recoup the investments I made in their education. [ - How many professional dancers have you trained?] About 120-130 dancers that became projectionists went abroad and I lost them. So, I trained them free of charge. The Dance Studio Teodor is only a hobby for many of those that come to learn the art of dance. I have yet a department that trains professionals, selected from among the young talents that come to the studio. [ - What do you need now to develop the business?] We need a place where to work. I rent a part of the space from the Government and pay rental to the state and when I am one month late I have problems. I do not ask property as reward for training so many professional dancers that became well known, but the state could at least exempt me from paying taxes because they have for what to give me a hand. In reality yet, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism worked out no project for us as they are so preoccupied with the promotion of the country’s image that do not have time for the less important arts. They do not think that the dancers give performances and bring joy to the people and they deserve being exempted from a part of the rent, at least for the National Palace, that is about 40,000 lei for two hours of concert. I sent many letters to the Presidential Office during the first years of activity as it looked that the things in culture began to change, but I received no answer. I do not need equipment and costumes from the state because I do everything with my own hands, but I’d like to invest the money that I pay as rental in costumes and training. I though the state could help me as it helps many others, but it did not happen. [ - Couldn’t you find sponsors with money in Moldova?] There are no such sponsors. I had friends that were billionaires and I though that after spending so much time with me they will become emotional and will give me a credit for 10 years without interest to build a studio, which is my lifelong dream. [ - What was the work you did in the past years if it brought no money?] It was a fight for survival. I could purchase three apartments with the money I paid as rent. Instead of buying an apartment when it cost 3,000-5,000 dollars, I sewed costumes. It always happened in such a way. I am not married yet because I do not have a place of my own to create a family. I invested all the money I earned abroad in costumes. Now I have costumes of over 100,000 euros made in the past 15 years and I can consider myself the richest man in Moldova. [ - Where does this self-denial come from?] I could not do something else at the beginning. Initially, I worked in the theatre and I was satisfied. But then I started to dance and earned more than the160 lei that I received in the theatre. I couldn’t buy a house because it is impossible in our country to purchase a house by doing the performing arts. I was contended with what I earned. Now I cannot take a loan and build a studio because the banks ask me how much I earn officially. I cannot pay 20,000-30,000 lei a month during 20 years for the loan because I have a salary of only 2,000 lei. [ - Haven’t you been tempted to go abroad?] I was, but I have a strong connection with my motherland and I cannot stay long abroad. I had been in the Netherlands for a year and they did not allow me to return to the country. It was very difficult to leave the Netherlands because the tickets for the performances there were sold one year beforehand and people from the neighbouring states came to see the concerts. Yet, I missed the creation atmosphere from my country, where I can freely create the dances I want. [ - Do you have any resistance left?] If I resisted until now, it means I am very resistant. I have hope because I managed to take out a large loan a year and a half ago to develop the troupe and to hire teachers from abroad. We need promotion in order to make tours abroad, to create a product that could not be rejected. I told the dancers that this is the last time I try this. We want to go to Romania or Turkey in summer for a short contract of at least two months to recover the costs and make a very good film about us for promotion abroad. If we do not manage this until next autumn, I will probably give up this job because the large costs incurred cannot be recovered at the moment. [ - You have studied the economy to make the business profitable. What are your current plans?] I want to create and sell a high-quality product. It costs 50 dollars to send the DVD with our product to any country of the world. For 1,000-2,000 dollars, I will send 20-30 DVDs all over the whole and wait for reactions. I hope to give the greatest performance of my life so as I could call the renowned Dutch impresario Joop van den Ende, who has 18 theatres in the Netherlands, two in Germany, four in Belgium, four in London and four on the Broadway and who also owns the well-know ice show “Holiday on Ice”. [ - Does this mean that the jubilee concerts will be of vast proportions?] They will be of proportions for Moldova. They will be first step towards achieving my dream. But this great impresario will be impressed only by a veritable production, with sound, direction, history of the theatre. This will be another challenge because something like that is not made in Moldova at present. [INFO-PRIM NEO NOTE:] On February 10 and 20, Show Ballet Teodor will give two jubilee performances at the National Palace – 10 years of the formation of the troupe and 20 years of activity of the artistic director Teodor Radulescu. The first concert will be an exclusive new show, while the second one will be a musical-choreographic performance titled “Back Dance Masters” with the participation of Moldovan and Romanian singers like Natalia Barbu, Natalia Gordienco, Nelly Ciobanu, Serj Cuzencov, Demish, Indiana, Catharsis, Lina, Marcel Pavel, Anna Lesco, Pepe, Mihai Traistariu, Arsenium and others. Show Ballet Teodor is renowned in the country and abroad. It takes part in different national and international festivals. The band cooperates with well known singers from Moldova and Romania. Since 1998, Show Ballet Teodor and the Dance Studio Teodor has worked intensely in Moldova and abroad, giving by 4-8 choreographic performances a year. The Dance Studio Teodor will mark 15 years of the foundation in 2008. About 400 children and young people learn the dance art at the studio.