I first met Arina Volgina in 2012 when I stayed with her at the end of a teaching tour which started in St Petersburg, stopped briefly in Moscow, and finished in her home city of Nizhny Novgorod. Over the years we have become good friends, with her translating for me at many courses in Russia. Perhaps the two most memorable ones were in 2013, when she supported me at a teacher training course in Voronezh, and in 2015, when we travelled to Samara to teach a course for wheelchair dancers. She has also accompanied me to several courses in St Petersburg, and acted as a tour guide around the city and nearby palaces.