Li Cunxin

At the age of 11, Li Cunxin was selected to train in Madame Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy, and so began his journey. Li Cunxin left home to begin a seven-year training regime at the Beijing Dance Academy. With incredible determination, resilience, perseverance, and vision, Li Cunxin graduated as one of the best dancers China has ever produced.

Ben Stevenson, choreographer and artistic director of the Houston Ballet, was part of the first U.S. cultural delegation to visit communist China. While touring China, Mr. Stevenson discovered Li Cunxin, and at age 18, Li Cunxin was awarded one of the first cultural scholarships to America. Subsequently, Li Cunxin accepted a soloist contract with the Houston Ballet.

Two years later, Li Cunxin defected to the West in a dramatic media storm. Li Cunxin was locked up in the Chinese Consulate in Houston, creating a standoff between the Chinese and the American governments; FBI agents surrounded the consulate, and negotiations between Chinese and U.S. diplomats began. His defection was a headline story in America, and twenty-one hours later, Li Cunxin walked out of the Chinese Consulate as a free man.

Li Cunxin danced with the Houston Ballet for sixteen years and became one of the best dancers in the world. He guest-performed around the world with some of the best ballet companies and won two silver and a bronze medal at three International Ballet Competitions. In 1995 Li moved to Melbourne, Australia, where he became a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.

At age thirty-four, Li began planning a career change; in 1997 he began his study at the Australian Securities Institute with a view to becoming a stockbroker. Li Cunxin made a successful career transition from ballet to finance in 1999, and is now a senior manager at one of the largest stockbroking firms in Australia.

Li Cunxin’s 2004 autobiography, Mao’s Last Dancer, immediately hit the top of Australia’s best sellers list. It was number one in the non-fiction category and won the Book of the Year Award in Australia, and the Christopher Award in America. Mao’s Last Dancer stayed on the “Top 10 Bestseller List” for over one year and has been published and sold in over twenty countries. Li Cunxin recounts his determination, perseverance, vision, courage, hard work, and in particular, the sacred family values and integrity that he learned in poverty-stricken China. In May 2005, the Young Readers’ Edition of Mao’s Last Dancer was released.

As a motivational and inspirational speaker, Li Cunxin’s unique story resonates effectively with audiences throughout the world, touching people deeply. Li Cunxin has spoken at Affinity Health, the Australian Booksellers Association, Barbara Bush’s Celebration of Reading, the Brisbane Writers’ Festival, the Catholic Educators Conference, the Commonwealth Bank, Ernst & Young, Fujitsu, the National Health Information Summit, Pfizer Inc, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Rotary Club Regional Conference, Sigma Company Ltd., the Texas Book Festival, UNICEF Australia, and the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO), to name a just few.