FROM RUSSIA WITH TRUST

Picture Stanislav Issaev of the Moscow State Ballet Theatre dancing with an American company in his first U.S. appearance. But forget all the stories about KGB goons and desperate leaps to artistic freedom. Issaev is no defector.

Last month he appeared as special guest artist with the San Diego-based California Ballet for eight performances of “The Nutcracker,” starting Dec. 12. Then he returned to the Moscow State Ballet Theatre, a company that he said offers him “absolute freedom and a very favorable destiny.”

Accompanied on his visit only by a mild-mannered female interpreter (Soviet government issue), the 30-year-old Issaev was one of very few Soviet dancers in recent memory to be sent to the United States on his own recognizance.

Moreover, he denied that the highly publicized defections of Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alexander Godunov might have made his government reluctant to send him abroad. “Certainly not,” he declared. “I felt only support from government organizations. If someone stayed, that’s their own business.”

Winner of the gold medal at the 1980 Varna International Ballet Competition, Issaev partners celebrated Bolshoi principal Ekaterina Maximova in her frequent guest appearances with the Moscow State Ballet Theatre (formerly the Moscow Classical Ballet). That 50-person troupe has collected 10 golds in international ballet competitions and has toured to more than 20 countries outside the U.S.S.R., but remains virtually unknown in the United States.

Issaev came to California Ballet courtesy of Gosconcert, the Soviet state booking agency. Olga Smoak, director of Soviet relations for a New Orleans-based arts booking agency, made the application at the request of longtime friend and California Ballet director Maxine Mahon.

Between class and a matinee “Nutcracker,” Issaev discussed his career with Moscow State Ballet Theatre, a company roughly one-fourth the size of the Bolshoi and 1/14th the age of the Kirov.

However, the opportunities to perform are greater, he said. By his account, he dances about five or six times a month in Moscow and more often on tour.

“The Bolshoi is incomparable in the number of fantastic dancers,” he said. “That’s why Maximova has often free time to work with the Moscow State Ballet Theatre.”

In fact, Maximova has toured with that company and appeared opposite Issaev in the 1982 film of “Creation of the World” by company directors Vladimir Vasiliov and Natalia Kasatkina. Issaev said he enjoys working with these directors. “I love the company atmosphere,” he commented. “If you have ability, you get opportunity.”

In California Ballet class, his gold-medal technique stands out: meticulous placement, exemplary turnout, good extensions and elevation and controlled power in turns. Like Kirov principals Lubov Kunakova and Olga Chenchikova, Issaev trained at the Kirov-influenced state ballet school in Perm.

His manner is simple, both in class and in conversation. A well-proportioned 5 feet, 9 inches and 134 pounds, he hunches forward as comments and questions are being translated, taking in their tone as well as text. He has a wide-open gaze, a sudden grin and hands that spring open as he speaks.

According to Issaev, the Moscow State Ballet Theatre is scheduled to visit the United States in 1988. That tour would follow the 1986 Kirov and Moiseyev engagements and the scheduled 1987 Bolshoi tour--a level of exchange activity unprecedented since the cultural Cold War that began during the Carter Administration.

“There would of course be more visits if Americans send invitations,” Issaev said.

Smoak agreed ruefully that U.S. ballet companies offer few guest opportunities other than one-night stands on mixed-bill, high-ticket galas.

Meanwhile, Mahon has requested another guest appearance by Issaev in April of this year. The April date is unconfirmed and the ’88 Moscow State Ballet Theatre tour is a long way off, but Issaev seemed very happy about both possibilities.

He clearly relished the “vigor and variety” of his home company’s “very wide” individual repertory. About half is the work of Vasiliov and Kasatkina (former Bolshoi soloists) and half by such varied choreographers as Maurice Bejart (“Romeo and Juliet”) and Roland Petit (“L’Arlesienne”).

“My directors choose not to duplicate the repertory of other companies,” noted Issaev. “But the Bolshoi cannot abandon the classical repertory people expect of a traditional company.”

Nonetheless, he said he believes Western bookings for Soviet companies contribute to Western perceptions of stalled creativity in Soviet ballet. “Beezness,” explained Issaev, breaking out in that one word of English, then returning to his native tongue:

“The impresarios choose old repertory which is more familiar to audiences. It’s a problem of selling and buying.”

For his part, Issaev declared himself “very much interested in modern choreography.” During his visit he viewed televised works by Martha Graham, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins “with an eye to enriching repertory.”

Reflecting on his visit, Issaev said: “I enjoyed my stay in America. Americans are very much like Russians--very open-hearted, very kind. I only saw New York from the airplane, but it’s good that I haven’t seen everything. I believe I’ll come again.”