The Chinese ballet Raise the Red Lantern performed by the National Ballet of China (NBC) has highlighted the "Festival of China" in Washington, and gained wide acclaim in the United States, NBC Director Zhao Ruheng told Xinhua Monday.

The "Festival of China", jointly organized by China and the US for the first time, is the largest ever demonstration of Chinese culture in the United States. At the Washington-based Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Raise the Red Lantern, together with other more than 30 exhibitions and performances received thousands of audiences since the festival debuted on Oct. 1.

The Chinese ballet drew very much attention from the US mainstream media, said Zhao. On Oct. 10, the Washington Times published a commentary on Raise the Red Lantern with the title "Ballet enriches China Festival", saying the Chinese ballet combines traditional and modern cultural elements.

Zhao noted that apart from attending the "Festival of China", NBC also made commercial performance tours in Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York, attracting more than 40,000 people.

Sources with the Chinese Embassy in the US said tickets for every NBC performance were almost sold out one month ahead of the performance. In Los Angeles, the troupe performed for seven consecutive days, attracting a total of 20,000 people.

Zhao stressed the NBC will stick to its development strategy of promoting Chinese ballet on the world stage while introducing the world's best ballet into China. "Therefore, China and the outside world can understand each other better in the way of art," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2005)