Raised in a desperately poor village during the height of China`s Cultural Revolution, Li Cunxin`s childhood revolved around the commune, his family and Chairman Mao`s Little Red Book.
Until, that is, Madame Mao`s cultural delegates came in search of young peasants to study ballet at the academy in Beijing and he was thrust into a completely unfamiliar world.
When a trip to Texas as part of a rare cultural exchange opened his eyes to life and love beyond China`s borders, he defected to the United States in an extraordinary and dramatic tale of Cold War intrigue.
Told in his own distinctive voice, this is Li`s inspirational story of how he came to be Mao`s last dancer, and one of the world`s greatest ballet dancers.

‘Mao`s Last Dancer is a modern fairy-tale. Li Cunxin`s story is a breathtaking indictment of brute Communism, told with great honesty’ (Kate Adie)

`His vivid descriptions of life at home, surviving on family love and dried yams, and of the harsh regime, make riveting reading’ (Guardian)