In this blog we have previously talked about chinese literature and today I come to talk about a book with a succulent title: Mao's last dancerby Li Conxin. Published in Spain in 2010, it is the autobiographical story of the dancer Li Cunxin, from his childhood to his adulthood.
Li Cunxin (Qingdao, China, 1961) is one of many millions of children of Chinese peasants who was born during the revolution and communist regime of Mao Zedong.
When he was a child, Madame Mao's cultural delegates selected Li to join the Beijing Dance Academy. This opportunity, together with his constant courage and determination, led him to be one of the best dancers in the world and to escape in the West from the life that was to be imposed on him in communist China.
Under this seemingly simple premise, Li Cunxin's autobiography is a journey through the mentality of one of the many Chinese who, after small displays of openness in their restricted country, saw their ironclad communist principles stagger when they came up against liberal society. North American.
Mao's last dancer it is the story of a life. An existence marked by state domination but also by struggle and self-improvement, in which ballet becomes the key element that unites all the good and bad in Li Cunxin's life.
The book has a homonymous film version released in 2009 and directed by Bruce Beresford.
A story that can help us understand the complex reality of politics and life in China.