Nikolai Rodchenko, a Russian ballet dancer who defected from the Soviet Union years ago, finds himself back in the motherland--trapped--thanks to an emergency airplane landing. The Soviets do not imprison him, however; they hope to score a propaganda victory by 'persuading' him to become Russian again. That is why he is sent to Siberia, to Raymond Greenwood and his Russian wife Darya. Greenwood is an American tap dancer who defected to Russia in opposition to the Vietnam War. Nikolai makes Raymond realize how limited his life is in the USSR, and together they hatch a plan to evade their KGB minders, escape to the American Embassy and eventually the US.