
Raised in a desperately poor village during the height of China's Cultural Revolution Li Cunxin's childhood revolved around the commune his family & 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 & 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 & love beyond China's borders he defected to the United States in an extraordinary & 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 & one of the world's greatest ballet dancers