In a small, desperately poor village in north-east China, a young peasant boy sits at his rickety old school desk, interested more in the birds outside than in Chairman Mao's Red Book and the grand words it contains. But that day, some strange men come to his school - Madame Mao's cultural delegates. They are looking for young peasants to mould into faithful guards of Chairman Mao's great vision for China. The boy watches as one of his classmates is chosen and led away. His teacher hesitates. Will she or won't she? She very nearly doesn't. But at the last moment she taps the official on the shoulder and points to the small boy. 'What about that one?' she says. This is the true story of how that one moment in time, by the thinnest thread of a chance, changed the course of a small boy's life in some ways that are beyond description. One day he would dance with some of the greatest ballet companies of the world. One day he would be a friend to a president and first lady, movie stars...

Born in a poverty-stricken Chinese commune, the author rose to worldwide fame as principal dancer of the Houston Ballet. In this fascinating memoir, he recounts his early life within a loving family, dance training in Beijing, perilous defection to the West, marriage to an American girl, and triumphant visit to the village of his birth. He writes with a surprising fluency for someone who began learning English only in his teens. The biographical details unite a riveting picture of China after the Cultural Revolution and the political and artistic demands upon an aspiring artist there. His subsequent adventures in the West would pall were it not for the indefatigable reading by Paul English. He exercises such an intense and masterful concentration on the text that the listener's interest never flags. In addition, he imbues the narrative with ingenuousness and enthusiasm, which endearingly befit the image Li is attempting to present of himself. The result is an example of an audiobook that is superior to its source. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

 

Plucked from poverty, Li Cunxin was brought to Beijing to learn ballet. Later, after defecting, he became a principal dancer in both the Houston and the Australian Ballets, ultimately becoming world renowned. Paul English's crisp accents march precisely through Chinese pronunciations and the difficult stories of Li's early life in Quingdao. Occasionally, English pauses on emotional peaks, portraying, for example, Li's fear when his mother faints from hunger and his loneliness while adjusting to life at the dance school. Mostly, English's level narration allows listeners to imagine the contrasts of Li's life--his incomprehension of the wealth and freedom he sees while visiting the U.S. and, soon after, his struggle to attain them. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

 

a heartening rags-to-riches story. Paul English exercises such an intense and masterful concentration on the text that the listener’s interest never flags … He imbues the narrative with ingenuousness and enthusiasm, which endearingly befit the image Li is attempting to present of himself. The result is an audiobook that is superior to its source

 

Spring 2004 Breakout Book

 

Best Audiobook of 2004English clearly characterizes Cunxin and handles expertly the Chinese phrases and names. Excellent selection.

 

His life reads like a great story. Li Cunxin was born into poverty in Chairman Mao’s China. He seemed destined to stay in his peasant village except for a very luck break. From ballet, to the White House, to the FBI and an Australian beer, Li Cunxin turned stock broker, turned author has now documented his extraordinary life in a book, Mao’s Last Dancer. Li Cunxin was born in 1961, in the New Village, Li Commune, near the city of Qingdao on the coast of north-east China. The sixth of seven sons in a poor rural family, Li's peasant life in Chairman Mao’s communist China changed dramatically when, at the age of eleven, he was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural advisers to become a student at the Beijing Dance Academy. After a summer school in America, for which he was one of only two students chosen, he defected to the West and became a principal dancer for the Housten Ballet. Li went on to become one of the best male dancers in the world. He is now a senior manager in a major stockbroking firm and lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife Mary and their three children, Sophie, Tom and Bridie.

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
Continue Browsing		View Wish List