Mao's Last Dancer

"Before you can fly, you have to be free."

Oct 1 2010 PG 1h 57m
Biography, Drama, Music

At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he fell in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.

Plot

A drama based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin. At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he fell in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.

Written by

Jan Sardi, Cunxin Li

Directed by

Bruce Beresford

Cast

Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Australia

Production Companies

Great Scott Productions Pty. Ltd.

Languages

English

Awards

7 wins & 20 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
8,410
Average Rating
7.3 out of 10
Metascore
55
Popularity
NA