The rags-to-riches story of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin who, at age 11, was chosen to train at Madam Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy and later went on to become one of the world’s greatest dancers.
Mao’s Last Dancer will be opening in select US cities on Friday, August 20th. The movie first premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival between September 10th and 14th of 2009 as a Special Presentation film. It then be followed with four gala premiers in Australia to benefit the Australian Ballet and the Bionic Ear Institute, which are the two non-profit organizations that Li supports and is involved with.
Li has screened the film twice now, and he thought that it’s a very good film. Li is very happy with how it portrayed his life. Bruce Beresford has done wonders bringing his story to the screen. The entire cast of actors and dancers are wonderful. And Li also liked the music very much.
In Australia, Village Roadshow, Hoyts, as well as other independent cinemas such as Palace and Dendy, exhibits the film. The official release in Australia and New Zealand is Oct 1st.
Another exciting development, Li has written three new chapters for the film tie-in edition of the book. He is quite excited with this new edition as the new materials will bring the readers up-to-date on the important people in his life, and the story of how the film came about.
Mao’s Last Dancer was the Runner Up for the highly coveted People’s Choice Award at the prestigious 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. It’s ranked the 4th biggest box office success for the opening week in Australian film history.
Adult Li – Chi Cao: Born in China, Chi was trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and the Royal Ballet School. He joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1995 and was promoted to Principal in 2002. Chi is a virtuoso classical dancer, and often leads the Company in the classical repertory. His superb technique won him the gold medal in 1998 at the International Ballet Competition in Varna. Chi has also represented the BRB at a number of prestigious occasions, dancing at the NATO gala in Birmingham (2000) and Birmingham’s gala to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s golden jubilee (2002). And Chi is the son of two of Li’s former teachers at the Beijing Dance Academy.
Cast Information
Middle Li – Chengwu Guo: One of the top graduates of the Beijing Dance Academy. Chengwu won one of the top prizes in the prestigious junior international ballet competition in Prix De Lausanne in 2006 and won the Gold Medal in the Shanghai Ballet Competition in the same year. He is now a member of the Australian Ballet.
Little Li – Huang Wen Bin: A gorgeous young boy from an athletics school in China.
Li’s Mother – Joan Chen: The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks, Home Song Stories, In the Class of His Own and other films.
Li’s Father – Wang Shuang Bao: A well-known actor in China and in many films.
Ben Stevenson – Bruce Greenwood: National Treasure, Déjà vu, World’s Fastest Indian and other films.
Charles Foster – Kyle MacLachlan: Desperate Housewives, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Dune, Sex In The City, Free, Opening Doors and other films.
Elizabeth – Amanda Schull: Amanda was a member of the San Francisco Ballet and the star of the hit movie Center Stage.
Mary – Camilla Vergotis: Camilla danced with the Australian Ballet as a soloist and is currently a soloist with the Hong Kong Ballet.
The US Federal Judge – Jack Thompson: Star Wars, The Good German, The Manual and other films. Jack is playing the cameo role of the US federal judge in Houston.
Music Composer – Christopher Gordon: Master and Commander, On the Beach, Salem’s Lot, Ward 13, Much To Do About Something, Sanctuary and other films.
Dance Choreographers – Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon: Graeme is a prolific choreographer and former Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company. With the collaboration of his long time partner Janet, they have created many wonderful dance works, classical and contemporary. His recent work for the Australian Ballet was Swan Lake, which won international appraisals.
The Dancers – The Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company: A large number of dancers from both the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Dance Company have participated in the dance works in the film.
Directed by: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Starring: Amanda Schull, Kyle MacLachlan, Bruce Greenwood, Jack Thompson, Aden Young
Screenplay by: Jan Sardi
MPAA Rating: PG for a brief violent image, some sensuality, language and incidental smoking.
Release Date: August 20th, 2010
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
