Nancy Reagan maid returned to work at the White House. In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet leader to visit Washington, D.C. since Nikita Khrushchev made the trip in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. Nancy was in charge of planning and hosting the important and highly anticipated state dinner, with the goal to impress both the Soviet leader and especially his wife Raisa Gorbacheva. After the meal, she recruited pianist Van Cliburn to play a rendition of "Moscow Nights" for the Soviet delegation, to which Mikhail and Raisa broke out into song. Secretary of State George P. Shultz
Raisa Struchkova Raisa Struchkova Raisa Stepanovna Struchkova () (5 October 19252 May 2005) was a Russian dancer and People's Artist of the USSR. Struchkova was born on 5 October 1925 in Moscow to a factory worker. She studied at the Moscow Ballet School, her teacher was Elizaveta Gerdt. In 1944, she graduated from Bolshoi Ballet school and became its member the same year. Two years later she appeared in a play called "La fille mal gardée" where she played role of "Lise" which became her first major role. Even though that previous ballet dancers, as of 1945, did "Cinderella", she perfected it