Review: Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

Thank you to book host Elle for this review (update: rating added below):

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin was reviewed by our bookgroup on Monday, 13th August at LJ's house.

Li Cunxin grew up on a commune in northern China in the 1960s when Mao Zedong ruled the country. Such was the poverty of a peasant's life in Mao's China that starvation was a daily fact of life and villagers in Li's commune were forced to eat the bark of trees.

But Li Cunxin's life changed dramatically the day a delegation from Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy arrived at his school searching for potential ballet students. As fate would have it, they overlooked the 10-year-old Li, but just as they were leaving, a teacher tapped one man on the shoulder, saying, "What about that boy?" That boy was Li and that was the beginning of a glorious dance career. But first came years of harsh training and an absolute hatred of dancing. He was desperately homesick and was only allowed to see his family once a year. But he had food in his stomach and thanks to one teacher, he discovered a passion for ballet and eventually real talent.

Li was 18 years old when a cultural delegation from the US offered him a scholarship to the Houston Ballet Academy. His first taste of freedom was life changing and on his second trip to America he fell in love with a fellow dancer. With the help of Barbara Bush and then-vice-president George Bush Snr, Li successfully defected to the West. The marriage later foundered, but in 1987 Li Cunxin married fellow dancer Mary McKendry, a Queenslander.

In 1995, they moved to Melbourne to dance with the Australian Ballet. According to The Australian's dance critic Lee Christofis, Li was one of the best ballet dancers ever seen in this country. "There were moments when I felt it was like being at a rock concert", says Christofis of Li's appearances with the Australian Ballet. "The audience would gasp at something spectacular he would do and he would just keep on dancing like an ordinary dancer again and at the end of the solo there would be eruptions all around the theatre."

But a dancer's career must always come to an end and in this Li was more prepared than most. He'd studied at the Australian Securities Institute and is now a well-regarded stockbroker.
Never one to stay still for long, Li Cunxin decided to write an autobiography, urged on by his friend and children's author Graeme Base. "It had everything, it had drama, political intrigue, it had this cultural divide, it was a love story," says Base.

Penguin Books took a gamble and made the first print run of Mao's Last Dancer 16,000 copies. Eighteen months later, the book is in its twenty-sixth reprint and has sold more than 160,000 copies. And the story doesn't end there, as film producer Jane Scott (who produced Shine) has bought the rights to Li Cunxin's story. Production is scheduled to start next year.

We had a small group this month only L.J, K.M, J.H M.O and myself. We all seemed moved my Li Cunxin's story. I have not got all the rating those I do have are quite high. People liked the style of writing and the fables throughout. The mango was a great Metaphor for life" savour every bit!!

Li Cunxin writes in a fluid, moving manner, one would never guess that English is not his native tongue. The book is engrossing and brings both tears and smiles to the reader. We cheer his hard won accolades as he falls in love with the ballet and ascends its international ladder. At the same time we share his grief and love for those he leaves behind.

This is not the usual famine to fortune tale. It is a story of determination over great odds, strokes of luck and relentless love. Ballet lovers will find the description of his early training horrifying. His first teachers have little concept how to safely train a young body. It's a wonder the children survived the “if 8 is good then 108 must better” mentality or if it's good to train in a studio then it is even better to train outside in the snow. But then, one beloved teacher changed Cunxin's hatred toward his forced study of the ballet into a love affair.

This book is well worth reading for many reasons. In the end one need not be a lover of dance to be enriched by this human story.

Gossip.

We had a bit of a laugh as I asked if I could "see" another book club whom asked me to join. M.O gave me a few ground rules. Ha ha. You are my number 1 book club. We also talked about having a weekend away sometime next year.!!!!!


Average Rating: 7.8
Highest Score: 8.5 Lowest Score 7