Mao's Last Dancer

by Cunxin, Li

• ISBN13: 9780802797797
• ISBN10: 0802797792
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-22
• Publisher: Walker Childrens

Summary

At the age of eleven, Li Cunxin was one of the privileged few selected to serve in Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution by studying at the Beijing Dance Academy. Having known bitter poverty in his rural China home, ballet would be his family's best chance for a better future. From one hardship to another, Cunxin demonstrated perseverance and an appetite for success that led him to be chosen as one of the first two people to leave Mao's China and go to American to dance on a special cultural exchange. But life in the U.S. was nothing like his communist indoctrination had led him to believe. Ultimately, he defected to the west in a dramatic media storm, and went on to dance with the Houston Ballet for sixteen years. This inspiring story of passion, resilience, and a family's love captures the harsh reality of life in Mao's communist China and the exciting world of professional dance. This compelling memoir includes photos documenting Li's extraordinary life.

Author Biography

Li Cunxin has displayed the ultimate in perseverance and determination throughout his life—from excelling in the grueling ballet training demanded by the Beijing Dance Academy to his 16 years as one of the premier dancers from the Houston Ballet to his latest career as a stockbroker and motivational speaker.  He now lives in Australia and travels extensively around the world giving presentations. Visit his Web site at www.licunxin.com.

Table of Contents

A Wedding, Quingdao, 1946	p. ix
My Childhood
Home	p. 3
My Niang and Dia	p. 14
A Commune Childhood	p. 24
Seven Brothers	p. 34
Na-na	p. 44
Chairman Mao's Classroom	p. 54
Leaving Home	p. 72
Beijing
Feather in a Whirlwind	p. 89
The Caged Bird	p. 104
That First Lonely Year	p. 114
The Pen	p. 125
My Own Voice	p. 134
Teacher Xiao's Words	p. 145
Turning Points	p. 162
The Mango	p. 174
Change	p. 181
On the Way to the West	p. 189
"Filthy Capitalist America"	p. 198
Good-bye, China	p. 213
The West
Return to the Land of Freedom	p. 235
Elizabeth	p. 243
Defection	p. 253
Afterword	p. 266
A Short Note on the Long History of China	p. 280
Li Cunxin and China: A Historic Time Line	p. 284
Writing and Pronouncing Chinese Words in English	p. 286
Acknowledgments	p. 289
Photograph Credits	p. 290
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