Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

From rural poverty to an international ballet stage

Good Condition - Covers show scuffing, creasing and edge and corner wear. Page edges are yellowed, with slight waviness or unevenness to the page block.

Li Cunxin recalls a childhood in a poor family in rural China and the extraordinary selection that carried him into the demanding world of state ballet training. At the Beijing Dance Academy, discipline, homesickness and physical challenge gradually give way to artistic possibility, even as political expectations shape the life around him. An opportunity to dance in the United States exposes him to a different world and eventually forces decisions with profound consequences for his career, loyalties and relationship with his family. His memoir connects the effort behind a dancer’s achievement with the emotional experience of leaving home and questioning long-held certainties. Mao’s Last Dancer is a personal story of persistence, cultural discovery and the enduring importance of the family whose support first made his ambitions possible.