Mao's Last Dancer

This is the true story of how, by the thinnest thread of a chance, one moment in time changed the course of a small boy's life in ways that are beyond imagination. 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 and the most influential people in America. One day he would become a star: Mao's last dancer, and the darling of the West. Here is Li Cunxin's own story, a beautiful, rich account of an inspirational life, told with honesty, dignity and pride.

Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award 2004
Winner of Australian Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award 2004
Winner of Christopher Award Books for Adults 2005
Short-listed for The Courier Mail Book of the Year Award 2004
Short-listed for National Biography Award Autobiography/Biography 2005

"[A] heartening rags-to-riches story." -- Publishers Weekly
"The listener's interest never flags ... [Paul English] imbues the narrative with ingenuousness and enthusiasm. The result is an audiobook that is superior to its source." -- AudioFile Magazine

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. Li went on to become one of the best male dancers in the world.Li's autobiography, Mao's Last Dancer has sold over 400,000 copies and has been published in over twenty countries. A children's version of the book was released in 2005 and a feature-length film was released in 2009.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. Paul English is an actor and narrator based in Melbourne who has appeared in more than 40 productions with major Australian theatre companies. Some highlights include Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov’s Ivanov and Stoppard's Arcadia. Paul's television credits include SeaChange, Curtin and Gallipoli. His narration of Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer and Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley have both won AudioFile Earphones Awards.

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