Mao`s Last Dancer

Raised in a desperately poor village during the height of China`s Cultural Revolution, Li Cunxin`s childhood revolved around the commune, his family and Chairman Mao`s Little Red Book. Until, that is, Madame Mao`s cultural delegates came in search of young peasants to study ballet at the academy in Beijing and he was thrust into a completely unfamiliar world. When a trip to Texas as part of a rare cultural exchange opened his eyes to life and love beyond China`s borders, he defected to the United States in an extraordinary and dramatic tale of Cold War intrigue. Told in his own distinctive voice, this is Li`s inspirational story of how he came to be Mao`s last dancer, and one of the world`s greatest ballet dancers.