The Invention Dimension: Invention of the Week For ten years Theremin worked in New York. With the help of Clara Rockmore, he developed what would today be called "performance art," featuring stages which automatically reacted to dancers' movements with varied patterns of sound and light. Then, in 1938, Theremin was kidnapped by the KGB and taken back to Russia. Forced to abandon his music, he spent a year in prison, and later developed listening devices for the Soviet secret police. Meanwhile, RCA scrapped its stock of Theremins in order to provide raw materials to the US war effort.