Mao’s Last Dancer
"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 fell 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.
Release Date
October 1, 2009
Status
Released
Original Title
Mao’s Last Dancer
Runtime
1h 57min
Budget
$25,000,000
Revenue
$23,900,000
Language
Mandarin, English