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Mao's Last Dancer
Mao's Last Dancer, Young Readers' Edition
Mao's Last Dancer
Li Cunxin
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.
1 Vote

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Biography
  • Nonfiction

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
Mao's Last Dancer review by YG
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YG

Li Cunxin grew up in a poor village in China. He shared a room with his five other brothers, and rarely ate meat. His parents were hard-working peasants who only made pennies per day. But when he was chosen from millions of children to study at the Beijing Dance Academy, his whole life changed. He quickly became the envy of his village and at age 11, Cunxin left his hometown for the first time and traveled to Beijing. At Beijing, he studied ballet at the academy for six years. For Chinese New Year, Cunxin returned to his rural family home to celebrate the holiday with his family.

Rating:
5
Five Star Award
Content Rating:

Content rating - nothing offensive
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