A huge ensemble of internationally acclaimed dancers will kick their way into State College tonight.

Following a 6:30 p.m. Artistic Viewpoints session for audience members who want the story behind the performance, the Krasnoyarsk Dance Company of Siberia will start the show at 7:30 p.m. in Eisenhower Auditorium.

This is just one stop for the dance company's tour that started in Portland on Sept. 1. Over the 15 weeks of the tour, the Krasnoyarsk Dance Company will perform in 78 cities in 22 states, ending up in Miami.

"Being on the road traveling every day is very difficult, but at the same time it is wonderful to see so much of the United States," soloist Anna Lysenko said in an e-mail message.

"We are lucky enough to travel everywhere on buses, so we get to watch the scenery go by and the bus has also become a home away from home."

One challenge of touring the United States is the language barrier; most of the 60 dancers speak only broken English.

"They learn English and I learn Russian, and we learn to communicate," company manager Diane Daubert said. "The things that are really important, it's not hard to get across -- you'd be surprised."

The Krasnoyarsk Dance Company was founded in 1960 and has brought its blend of Siberian dances, costumes and music to more than 70 countries since then.

The dances combine grace and athleticism, Center for the Performing Arts spokeswoman Laura Sullivan said.

"It changes from graceful stuff to what you typically picture as Russian, with the male dancers doing high kicks," Sullivan said.

Like the other dancers in the company, Lysenko has spent many years learning the Siberian folk-style dances.

After studying dance in her hometown, Lysenko moved away from her home and family to start ballet school in Krasnoyarsk when she was 12 years old. Upon completion of ballet school at the age of 18, Lysenko began dancing with the Krasnoyarsk Dance Company.

When the dancers are not touring, they spend between five and six hours practicing, six days a week.

All this hard work pays off, Lysenko said.

"There is only one reason to dance and travel around the world like this ... that reason is that I love to dance," she said. "Being able to make the audience happy and enjoy themselves for the time of the show, it is the most wonderful feeling. To know you make someone smile is the best."

The Krasnoyarsk Dance Company has received a warm reception during this tour, even when audiences do not know what to expect, Daubert said.

"I wish I could explain to people that they would love it, before the show happens," she said.

The dancers have performed nearly every day since the start of the tour, usually to full or near-full houses, Daubert said.

"It makes performing every night easier when the audience is so wonderful," Lysenko said.

"We have been so lucky here in America, the public has been so kind to us. We are very happy to be able to come here and perform."