Li Cunxin | |
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 Li Cunxin in 2010 | |
| Born | 26 January 1961 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouses | Elizabeth Mackey (m. 1981;div. 1987)Mary McKendry (m. 1987) |
| Children | 3 |
| Li Cunxin | |||||||||
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| Chinese | 李存信 | ||||||||
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Li Cunxin AO (born 26 January 1961) is a Chinese-Australian former ballet dancer turned stockbroker. He is currently the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet in Brisbane,Australia. [1]
Li was the sixth of seven brothers, [2] born into poverty in the Li Commune near the city of Qingdao in the Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. He often had to support his extremely poor family. Li's early life coincided with Mao Zedong's rule over the new Communist nation. Li had a strong desire to serve China's Communist Party. He was quite politically devout,eventually joining in the CCP's Youth League. At the age of eleven,he was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural advisors to attend the Beijing Dance Academy,where students had to undergo 16-hour-a-day training. He attended the academy for seven years. The regime in Beijing Dance was harsh,starting each morning at 5:30. Li performed well in the political class, [3] but did poorly in ballet. This changed when he met Teacher Xiao,who had a passion for ballet. Xiao's passion influenced Li,and by the end of the seven years of training,he graduated at the top of his class. [4] [2]
Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson was teaching two semesters at the Beijing Dance Academy. He offered a full scholarship for two dancers to study at the Houston Ballet summer school and Li was chosen as one. (Li was one of the first students from the Beijing Dance Academy to go to the United States under financial support from the central government of the People's Republic of China.) [2]
After his study at the summer school,Li defected to the West. He was held in the Chinese Consulate in Houston,his defection creating headlines in America. He had begun a relationship with an aspiring American dancer,Elizabeth Mackey,and in 1981,they married so that Li could avoid deportation. After 21 hours of negotiations,and intervention by George Bush Sr. (U.S. Vice President at the time),Li was allowed to stay in the US as a free man,but his Chinese citizenship was revoked. [2] [5]
Li subsequently danced with the Houston Ballet for sixteen years,during which he won two silver and a bronze medal at International Ballet Competitions. While dancing in London,he met ballerina Mary McKendry from Rockhampton,Australia. They married in 1987. [6] In 1995 they moved to Melbourne,Australia,with their two children. Li became a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet. [7]
In July 2012, [1] Li was named artistic director of the Queensland Ballet. [8] Li established himself as a mainstay of Brisbane's cultural scene. [9]
On 20 June 2023,Li announced that he and his wife Mary would retire at the end of 2023,her being in the teaching position as principal repetiteur with the ballet company. Li cited a heart condition,and Mary has been undergoing treatment for cancer. [10]
He was named Australian Father of the Year in 2009. [11]
In July 2016,Barbara Baehr and Robert Whyte from the Queensland Museum named a newly discovered spider species Maratus licunxini after Li Cunxin. [12] Dr Baehr said a Queensland Ballet performance of Li Cunxin's A Midsummer Night's Dream reminded her of the stunning mating display of the peacock spider. Li said he was honoured to have the spider named after him saying "having seen this incredible spider,the intricate mating dance,the fancy peacock markings,I can understand why Barbara would make a link with our ballet dancers." [13] [14]
After 18 years off-stage,Cunxin returned for a one-off performance as Drosselmeyer,specially choreographed by Ben Stevenson, [15] in The Nutcracker for the Queensland Ballet,dancing again with his wife,Mary McKendry,with whom he last danced in this work 26 years ago in Houston. [16] [17]
In the 2019 Birthday Honours,Cunxin was appointed officer (AO) of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the performing arts,particularly to ballet,as a dancer and artistic director". [18]
On 11 December 2023,at the graduation ceremony of the University of Queensland,Li was honoured with the degree of Honourary Doctor of Letters,and gave the graduation speech. [19] [20] Others honoured were Katherine Hirschfeld AM also awarded a Doctor of Letters,and Professor Julie Duck awarded the university's R.H. Roe Award. [19]
After arriving in Australia in 1995,when sidelined by a sprained ankle,Li occupied himself by gaining work experience with ANZ Securities and embarking on a three-year diploma course with the Australian Securities Institute. He had previously become interested in the stock market while in Houston. The Australian Ballet and ANZ Securities accommodated his desire to work at two professions simultaneously,dancing and stockbroking. On Mondays,Wednesdays and Fridays he worked at the stockbroking firm from 7:30am till noon when he arrived at the Australian Ballet for rehearsals and to prepare for performances. He followed this routine for two years. He believed these were his best years as a dancer. "I got to a level I thought I would never reach,a fusion of technique and artistry. When I was younger I might have been better technically,but I was lacking artistic maturity." Li retired from ballet in 1999 at the age of 38 and joined Bell Potter Securities to establish its Asian desk. [21]
In 2003 Li published his autobiography, Mao's Last Dancer . It has received numerous accolades,including the Australian Book of the Year award. In 2008,the children's version of this book,Mao's Last Dancer:The Peasant Prince (illustrated by Anne Spudvilas),won the Australian Publishers Association's Book of the Year for Younger Children [22] and the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Children's Book Award. [23]
Mao's Last Dancer was adapted into a 2009 feature film of the same name by director Bruce Beresford and writer Jan Sardi,starring Chi Cao,Bruce Greenwood and Kyle MacLachlan. [24] At the São Paulo International Film Festival 2009 the film won Best Foreign Feature Film Audience Award (tied with Broken Embraces ).
Li's first marriage was to Elizabeth Mackey in 1981. [25] They later divorced in 1987. [26]
Mary McKendry and Li married in 1987,and have three children:Sophie (1989),Thomas (1992),and Bridie (1997). [7]
On 20 June 2023,Li announced that he and Mary would retire at the end of 2023,her from the teaching position as principal repetiteur with the ballet company. Li cited a heart condition. Mary has been undergoing treatment for cancer. [10]
The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962,with the English-born dancer,teacher,repetiteur and director Dame Peggy van Praagh as founding artistic director. Today,it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies and performs upwards of 150 performances a year.
Amanda Schull is an American actress and former professional ballet dancer. She is known for her lead role in the 2000 film Center Stage,and for her recurring roles on the American television series One Tree Hill and Pretty Little Liars. She starred in the Syfy television series 12 Monkeys,and played a recurring role on the USA television series Suits before being promoted to series regular for the show's eighth and ninth seasons.
Houston Ballet,operated by Houston Ballet Foundation,is a professional ballet company based in Houston,Texas. The company consists of 59 dancers and produces over 85 performances per year. It is the 5th largest ballet company in the United States.
The Beijing Dance Academy is a municipal public professional dance college at Haidian,Beijing. The academy is the highest institution for dance education and assessment in the People's Republic of China,conducting the nationwide teacher qualification level examinations in Chinese dance.
Queensland Ballet,founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE,is the premier ballet company of Queensland,Australia and is based in Brisbane. It is one of only three full-time,professional classical ballet companies in Australia. The Company has had 5 previous Artistic Directors,and is currently led by Chinese-born ballet star Li Cunxin AO.
The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington,D.C. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day and has been directed by Julie Kent since 2016.
Ben Stevenson OBE,is a former ballet dancer with Britain's Royal Ballet and English National Ballet,co-director of National Ballet of Washington,D.C. (1971–1974),artistic director of Chicago Ballet (1974-1975),artistic director of Houston Ballet (1976–2003),and artistic director of Texas Ballet Theater (2003–2022).
The Hong Kong Ballet (香港芭蕾舞團) is a classical ballet company founded in 1979.
Ballet Theatre of Queensland,founded in 1937 by Phyllis Danaher FRAD,is the oldest continuous dance company in Australia. Ballet Theatre is based in Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland.
Mao's Last Dancer is a memoir written by Chinese-Australian ballet dancer and author Li Cunxin and first published in 2003. It recounts his journey from a young,impoverished village boy destined to labor in the fields of China to a world-famous professional dancer.
François Klaus,is a ballet dancer and choreographer.
Chi Cao is a British ballet dancer born in China.
Greg Horsman is an Australian ballet choreographer,teacher,and retired dancer. In 2022,Dance Magazine Australia described him as "formerly one of the Australian Ballet's most poetic and classical of principal artists." He and his then-wife Lisa Pavane were a popular partnership during the 1980s and early 1990s,with the Washington Post referring to their "conspicuously poised,elegant dancing" and the New York Times calling them "two perfectly trained and appealing first-class dancers" during a performance of Giselle. Horsman has been Assistant Artistic Director Queensland Ballet since 2023 and was previously the Chief Ballet Master and Director of Artistic Operations for the Queensland Ballet since 2013.
Mao's Last Dancer is a 2009 Australian film based on professional dancer Li Cunxin's 2003 autobiographical memoir of the same name. Li Cunxin is portrayed by Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Chi Cao,Australian Ballet dancer Chengwu Guo and Huang Wen Bin. The film also stars Bruce Greenwood,Kyle MacLachlan,Joan Chen and Amanda Schull.
Guo Chengwu,also known as Chengwu Guo,is a Chinese ballet dancer,and a principal artist with The Australian Ballet.
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Charles C. Foster is an American immigration attorney and chairman of the Houston-based law firm Foster LLP. Foster has earned top awards from organizations including Chambers and Partners,Texas Monthly magazine,and the American Immigration Law Foundation. He also serves as the honorary consul general of the Kingdom of Thailand in Houston and has received four royal decorations from His Majesty,King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.
Melbourne City Ballet was a ballet company based in Melbourne,Australia. The company was founded in 2013 by artistic director Michael Pappalardo and experienced significant growth throughout the years. Originally created as a neoclassical/contemporary project based company,Melbourne City Ballet developed quickly to become a full-time operating arts organisation with an increasing focus bring classical ballet works to regional and remote communities across Australia. Melbourne City Ballet was a registered charity with the Australian Charity &Not for Profit Commission under the name MCB Incorporated and was overseen by a board of professionals. MCB seized operations in July 2019 due to lack of funding.
Bush Blitz is a species discovery program conducting scientific surveys in Australian terrestrial and marine environments to document known and new fungi,plants and animals. The program is a partnership between the Australian Government,BHP Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia. Bush Blitz is managed through Parks Australia and the Australian Biological Resources Study. The program began in 2010,the International Year of Biodiversity,involving specialist taxonomists,indigenous communities,rangers and landowners,teachers,students and BHP employees. Bush Blitz funds taxonomy and further research based on material collected during Bush Blitz surveys,specifically targeted to assist in the publication of new species and the resolution of problematic groups collected from surveys.
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