Book Review

Mao's Last Dancer

By: Cunxin Li | Category: Unkown category | Year: 2009 ISBN: 0670073482

This is my story. Here is my recollection of those years growing up in Mao's China. It is my family's history. It is my journey, from my earliest memories, through discovering dance, to my life in the West. History may record things differently, others may too, but the stories here remain as true to me now as they ever were. It is a remembrance that contains the treasures from my heart. So wrote Li Cunxin in the first edition of his now phenomenally bestselling memoir. Just as his journey from bitter poverty to international stardom is a dream come true, so too has the telling of his life story taken him to places he never could have imagined. Since its release in 2003, Mao's Last Dancer has sold over 400 000 copies and regularly featured on bestseller lists. Now, some six years after its original publication, Li's inspiring story of courage and determination has been made into a major feature film. For this edition, Li gives us three powerful new chapters as he shares his experiences in making the movie, his feelings for an utterly changed China and the ongoing stories of his beloved families in Melbourne and Qingdao. 'An honest and refreshing account of a peasant boy's journey from Mao's China to stardom in the West . . . an inspiring true story of courage and determination.' Adeline Yen Mah, author of Falling Leaves Visit the official Mao's Laster Dancer Movie website maoslastdancermovie.com

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Review:
Belicia Tang
rated it
November 11, 2020 6:36 am
Reading Question #4: How did people in China react to Li's defection to the US? How did this impact his personal relationships with his family and friends back home?
Jazlynn Chuo November 11, 2020 11:04 am
The people in China saw him as someone who was supposed to represent China as the best ballet dancer, but he ended up defecting to China. People were shocked and disappointed in Li and this meant that...
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he was not welcome in China again and couldn't see his family for over 8 years. All of the people he knew in China couldn't contact him for years and he felt very lonely without them.
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KYLE Lam November 12, 2020 4:55 am
The people in China were very disappointed in Li when he was defected. People thought that he betrayed China and considered him their enemy. Li was not able to communicate with his parents and relati...
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ves when he was defected. This led him to feeling regret and homesick as he lives in the United States. His friends and teachers from the ballet classes were told to treat Li as their enemy and to not interact with him.
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Mark Yu November 12, 2020 9:10 am
Since Li always presented himself as a person with a strong belief in Communism, it came as a surprise that Li wanted to defect. The Chinese officials were disgruntled with Li and were flabbergasted. ...
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The Chinese were despondent and angry with Li for defecting, and his Niang and Dia were worried and scared for their son. What added to Li’s Niang and Dia’s anxiousness was that Li wasn’t able to see or return to them for 6 years. Li and his parents didn’t even know if the other were alive and well.
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Sophia Chen November 12, 2020 9:41 am
The people in China were surprised by Li's defection because Li had always supported Communism. His friends and family secretly stayed loyal to him, but they had cut off their contact with the oth...
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er person and could only hope that everything was fine. The government abandoned him, and he couldn't enter China. He was also treated as an enemy by most of his former classmates. During this time, Li felt devastated and homesick
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Nicole Lee November 12, 2020 10:32 am
People in China reacted to Li's defection with disappointment. Li, a ballet dancer who had gotten help from China in order to reach his level of ballet, had betrayed his home country and left to s...
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tay in America, where all the "bad influences" were. Even when Li was at a competition, he wasn't allowed to even represent China, and all of his old friends stayed away from him. When he was being mocked, everybody else would join in and he felt horrible. Even at home, according to his Niang and Dia, many of his other friends talked about how he defected, and many tried to stay away from his family
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Belicia Tang
rated it
November 3, 2020 9:08 am
Reading Question #3: What were some of the cultural shocks Li Cunxin experienced when he arrived in America? What was his initial attitude towards Americans? How did his attitude towards America change, as he spent more time there?
Jazlynn Chuo November 4, 2020 12:37 pm
When Li Cunxin arrived in America, a few things he immediately noticed were, how relaxed people were, how expensive food/items were, and how clean/rich the city looked. At first, he was very suspiciou...
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s and thought that all of these cultural shocks were fake and that America had to be much worse than China, as he had been taught. Since he had been taught all his life how "poor" and horrible America was, he doubted many of the positive differences between America and China. As he spent more time in America, he realized that all of these cultural differences weren't hoaxes and that there was so much more freedom compared to China
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November 5, 2020 5:20 am
Before Li visited America for the first time, he thought that America was poverty-stricken, filthy capitalistic, and evil. No one could blame him because China had used propaganda to portray itself as...
Read more
the elite nation and America as a trash pile. So when Li visited America for the first time, he was shocked and amazed to find how kind and caring the Americans were, how prosperous the country was, and most of all, how people could express their opinions freely. Li as a child had seen people get brutally slaughtered by communists simply because they hinted a tad of capitalism, or even if they were innocent. Now, at the ballet school in Housten, Li hears another student say, “Well, I don’t like our president, Jimmy Carter.” Li, dumbfounded at the student announcing his disapproval of the president, quietly says, “Shh…! You [are] not scared [that] people [will] listen to you talk about your big leader this way? If I say [one] bad thing about Chairman Mao, I will go [to] jail and may be killed.” (Li, p277) This is when he realizes that in America, one has freedom of speech. Li’s attitude towards America improved by the second while his faith in China plummeted. Li now was lost and he even tried to convince himself to restore his patriotism in Communist China. However, he was not able to. “I had now tasted freedom, and I couldn’t lie to myself about it.” (Li, p281)
Less
November 5, 2020 5:20 am
Before Li visited America for the first time, he thought that America was poverty-stricken, filthy capitalistic, and evil. No one could blame him because China had used propaganda to portray itself as...
Read more
the elite nation and America as a trash pile. So when Li visited America for the first time, he was shocked and amazed to find how kind and caring the Americans were, how prosperous the country was, and most of all, how people could express their opinions freely. Li as a child had seen people get brutally slaughtered by communists simply because they hinted a tad of capitalism, or even if they were innocent. Now, at the ballet school in Housten, Li hears another student say, “Well, I don’t like our president, Jimmy Carter.” Li, dumbfounded at the student announcing his disapproval of the president, quietly says, “Shh…! You [are] not scared [that] people [will] listen to you talk about your big leader this way? If I say [one] bad thing about Chairman Mao, I will go [to] jail and may be killed.” (Li, p277) This is when he realizes that in America, one has freedom of speech. Li’s attitude towards America improved by the second while his faith in China plummeted. Li now was lost and he even tried to convince himself to restore his patriotism in Communist China. However, he was not able to. “I had now tasted freedom, and I couldn’t lie to myself about it.” (Li, p281)
Less
November 5, 2020 5:23 am
Before Li visited America for the first time, he thought that America was poverty-stricken, filthy capitalistic, and evil. No one could blame him because China had used propaganda to portray itself as...
Read more
the elite nation and America as a trash pile. So when Li visited America for the first time, he was shocked and amazed to find how kind and caring the Americans were, how prosperous the country was, and most of all, how people could express their opinions freely. Li as a child had seen people get brutally slaughtered by communists simply because they hinted a tad of capitalism, or even if they were innocent. Now, at the ballet school in Housten, Li hears another student say, “Well, I don’t like our president, Jimmy Carter.” Li, dumbfounded at the student announcing his disapproval of the president, quietly says, “Shh…! You [are] not scared [that] people [will] listen to you talk about your big leader this way? If I say [one] bad thing about Chairman Mao, I will go [to] jail and may be killed.” (Li, p277) This is when he realizes that in America, one has freedom of speech. Li’s attitude towards America improved by the second while his faith in China plummeted. Li now was lost and he even tried to convince himself to restore his patriotism in Communist China. However, he was not able to. “I had now tasted freedom, and I couldn’t lie to myself about it.” (Li, p281)
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Mark Yu November 5, 2020 5:26 am
Sorry about posting my answer 3 times. My wifi was unstable.
KYLE Lam November 5, 2020 8:32 am
Before Li Cunxin went to America he heard that Americans carried guns and they shoot people that they don't like. He also thought that America was doing even worse then China. After he went to Ame...
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rica he saw that there was so much more there compared with China. There was more freedom and he was surprised that the people there were so welcoming and friendly to him because he thought that they were suppose to be enemies. He also saw that food was very expensive in the US and there were ATMs
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Sophia Chen November 5, 2020 9:06 am
Before Li Cunxin went to America, he believed in government propaganda and thought that America was dangerous, poor, people there were mean and had no freedom. When he arrived, he found that he was wr...
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ong. His hosts often smiled at him and were very welcoming. They gave him 50 dollars a week(8 months of dia's wages) for allowance per week and spent thousands of dollars on gifts. His friends were able to dislike the president and have their own opinions. Li Cunxin also found that technology in America was much more advanced and not as third-world as he thought
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Nicole Lee November 5, 2020 9:20 am
Growing up, and living in the academy, Li had always learned that Americans were extremely evil and were filthy capitalists. Therefore, when he finally arrived in America, he was distrusting and alway...
Read more
s questioned people's intentions. Even when offered gifts, they would question the intention of the giver, and the Americans' smiles also made them nervous. Li and his friend had been told that Americans were supposed to be their enemies, yet they were acting so nice. Another culteral shock that Li had was the house that they arrived in. It was a humongous room, with many different things in it that Li would never have been able to afford back home. As Li eats the food, he experiences another culteral shock, which was how expensive the food was. He was also shocked that everybody had so much money to afford such nice things. In china, if these people had been so wealthy, they would have been immediately killed or jailed. The last big cultural shock that Li had was how expensive his dancing tights were. According to Li, it would have costed 2 years of his father's salary, something they would never have been able to afford back home
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Belicia Tang
rated it
October 29, 2020 1:13 am
Reading Questions #2: What were some of the challenges Li Cunxin faced during his first year at the Academy?
KYLE Lam October 29, 2020 3:32 am
Li Cunxin missed his family a lot during his first year at the Academy. He also didn't have enough money to buy things that he needed for class such as a pair of swimming shorts. He was also very...
Read more
unexperienced in dancing and got bad grades during his first year. His feet is almost always sore due to the excessive amount stretching and ballet.
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Jazlynn Chuo October 29, 2020 6:39 am
One challenge Cuxin faced in the first year at the Academy was homesickness. He was only 11 when he left his home and he was struggling with living on his own as a young child. He couldn't go home...
Read more
until the New Year each year! Another problem he faced was not having enough money. Since he came from a peasant family, he barely received any money and felt guilty to take any too. A third problem he faced was feeling unmotivated and burned out from working every day. Even though he knew he was so much more privileged at the dance studios, he had very high expectations and pressure from teachers and for his family.
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Mark Yu October 29, 2020 8:41 am
The challenges that Li Cunxin faced during his first year at the Dance Academy were: Homesickness - Li desperately wanted to see his family, but he only got to do it once a year. Poverty - Li cannot...
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afford many things such as swimming shorts. Communication - Li could not talk to most of the kids because he spoke a different type of dialect. Grades and Experience - Li was extremely inexperienced in ballet due to the fact that he had never done it before. The highest grade he received was “below good”.
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Nicole Lee October 29, 2020 8:58 am
Some of the challenges that Li faced during the first year of his training is that he had trouble with ballet, there was a language barrier, he had no friends, and he didn't have enough money to g...
Read more
et the essentials for his classes. His grades weren't the best, even though he tried his best. He was getting discouraged, and didn't have very many friends. In addition to this, it was hard for him to understand what others were saying, as he didn't know much chinese. When it was time for the students to start swimming, he didn't have swimming shorts, as it was too much for him to afford, and he couldn't ask his Niang or Dia for money
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Sophia Chen October 29, 2020 12:02 pm
Some challenges that Li CunXin faced during the first year of his training was that he wasn't familiar with the dialect, he didn't have money, he got bad grades, and wasn't good at dance. ...
Read more
These caused him to be stressed over his future and disappointing his parents. He wanted things to go smoothly and be able to help his family out, so he didn't request anything from his parents
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Belicia Tang
rated it
October 21, 2020 12:19 pm
Reading Question #1: Draw parallels between Li Cunxin's upbringing / ballet training and that of Viacheslav "Slava" Fetisov and other Soviet hockey players. In what way is sport and art politicized in Communist nations during the 60s and 70s?
Mark Yu October 22, 2020 8:47 am
Here are some of the similarities between the two upbringings of Li Cunxin and Viacheslav "Slava" Fetisov: 1. They had an impoverished childhood. 2. They both had very strict teachers. 3. They both ...
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have schedules that they have to follow. 4. They both had to practice very hard. 5. Defection is not allowed. Both of these communist nations had elite teams. These teams were used to enforce propaganda to feed people’s belief that their country is the most powerful and rich
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Jazlynn Chuo October 22, 2020 8:59 am
In both the Soviet union and the Republic of China, they needed the best and extremely well-trained students to show that they are the best country. Just like how Slava had to represent Communist Russ...
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ia through winning hockey games, Li Cunxin represented Communist China through ballet. During the 60s and 70s, these Communist nations became politicized because they want to show superiority and power over other countries through winning all the Olympic games. This meant that the childhoods of these children in communist countries would turn into training every day. They would have to be very well disciplined and could never lose a game/competition.
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KYLE Lam October 22, 2020 9:03 am
In both China and Russia, athletes were trained at a very young age so that they can perform to their best ability when they are competing with other countries. During the 60s and 70s sports were pol...
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iticized because they wanted to show that they were stronger and better than other countries.
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Nicole Lee October 22, 2020 9:21 am
Both Li Cunxin's and Viasceslav's upbringings involved them starting out in poverty. They both had to work very hard on something that they didn't know was going to happen, which was polit...
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icizing their sport. In addition to that, they also had to work extremely hard, or get cut out of the competition. Sport and art was politicized in Communist nations during the 60s and 70s, as each country wanted to excel in many things to show how great they were, and to get more followers, which they could then keep using to extend their reach of people
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Sophia Chen October 23, 2020 12:54 pm
Both Li Cunxin and Viacheslav “Slava” Fetisov were born into poverty. They trained for their countries national sports team in hopes of leading a better life. Little did they know, they wo...
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uld be stuck at those training camp for most of their teenage years. During the 60s and 70s, these sport training camps were popular in communist countries such as China and Russia to show the world that they were strong and that they could be greater than democratic nations
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