Mao's Last Dancer

In a compelling memori of life in Maoist China, the acclaimed dancer describes how he was swept from his poverty-stricken family in rural China to study ballet with the Peking Dance Academy, his rise to success in the world of Chinese ballet, his dramatic defection at age eighteen in the United States, and his new life in the West.

Li Cunxin was born in a small village near the city of Qingdao, in northern China. At eighteen, he was selected to perform at the Houston Ballet, which led to a dramatic defection to the United States. He has performed as a soloist with the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.