Mao’s Last Dancer backdrop

Mao’s Last Dancer 2009 Directed by Bruce Beresford

Before you can fly, you have to be free.

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 falls 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.

Production Countries Australia , China
Language English
Spoken Languages English , Mandarin
Gneres Drama , Romance
Budget $25,000,000
Revenue $23,914,731
Release Date 1 October 2009
117 mins
Cast
Amanda Schull Elizabeth Mackey
Chi Cao Li Cunxin - adult
Chengwu Guo Li Cunxin - teenage
Wen Bin Huang Li Cunxin - boy
Joan Chen Niang
Bruce Greenwood Ben Stevenson
Kyle MacLachlan Charles Foster
Jack Thompson US Federal Judge
Camilla Vergotis Mary McKendry
Steven Heathcote Bobby Cordner
Aden Young Dilworth
Barbara Bush Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
George H. W. Bush Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mao Zedong Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Crew
Director
Writer
Producers
Executive Producer
Cinematography
Editor
Production Design
Original Writer
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Costume Design
Makeup Artists
Hairstylists
Music