WASHINGTON—Mr. Pavlov Ivlev, a Russian and executive director at the NGO Institute of Northern Russia, based in the U.S., and Anastasia who is visiting from Russia thought it to be a wonderful idea to see the Shen Yun Performing Art show at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

"We really enjoyed the show. It was great!"

Mr. Ivlev said with admiration in his voice, "This is the first time I see this, and, you know, we need to call all of our friends to definitely see this beautiful show, but also to understand the cause of what this show is all about."

Anastasia, who despite not speaking English very well, joined into the conversation "I liked the costumes!"

Mr. Ivlev turned to Anastasia and said, "I think you've been impressed by the costumes, the way they look."

"Yes," was the immediate response. "My grandfather and mother are from China."

Mr. Ivlev translated for Anastasia, saying that to see this show "was the call of the blood, for Anastasia," that she felt related to what she saw on stage, and that seeing the show has given Anastasia the impetus to go to China.

Mr. Ivlev added that Shen Yun, "is absolutely unique.” He continued. “this became really a super performance. And I actually have never seen traditional Chinese dance, but I think this is more advanced by way of choreography than all other shows."

He emphasized that he had never seen such a performance and said, "What I've seen is that [the show] is China and American influence, which really makes the perfect combination."

He recognized that just like in Russia, in China there are "different cultural traditions, so we saw what is actually good in China. [We saw] Tibetan and Mongolian and south-western so we can see different traditions like we have in Russia, and I believe that's the idea."

Mr. Ivlev does not know much about what is going on now in China, but by seeing Shen Yun, his eyes were opened and he said, "It really enforces me to learn more."

With reporting by Jenny Jing.

Shen Yun Performing Arts performs at the Washington D.C. Kennedy Center Opera House from Wednesday Aug. 25, to Sunday, Aug. 29. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Original article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41761/