Also as far as his family was concern he was taken from his family and put into a school of ballet cut off from them for most of his formative years. So it wasn’t like he was allowed much contact with them in the first place accept for phone calls and letters. One of the hesitations about him going to America was they didn’t believe he had been mentally politically “sterlized” enough.

I think showing how motivated he was to become not just a techinical dancer but a passionate dancer after watching the video tape his teacher left him he would always be open to the non-communist way of if not living, then the way of dance. Also, more likely than not, he was as virginal as his future wife and being each other’s first love was even a stronger motivation for him to want to stay.

I think it was made clear in the film that his defecting wasn’t an overnight thing as much as it being part of his fate from the moment he was torn from his family and told what his future would be instead of choosing ballet to be his life.
The fact that he is still married to the same woman and have two daughters makes it obvious why.

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