Böcker av Li Cunxin

This extraordinary play for young people is an adaptation of Li Cunxins picture book The Peasant Prince - the true story of Maos Last Dancer. Adapted by Monkey Baa, Australias leading theatre company for young audiences, The Peasant Prince has toured nationally, performing to tens of thousands of young people and their families throughout rural and regional Australia. The production was awarded Most Outstanding Production for Children (the Glugs), Best Production for Children (Sydney Theatre Awards) and a Drovers Award for Best Touring Production (Australian Performing Arts and Producers Awards). Li, a 10-year-old boy, is plucked from his village in rural China and sent to a ballet academy in the big city. He leaves everything and everyone he loves, including his family. Over years of gruelling training, he transforms from an impoverished peasant to a giant of the international dance scene. What does he find along the way? The Peasant Prince is a remarkable true story of courage, resilience and unwavering hope.

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