Photo by Jim Caldwell/Courtesy of Houston Ballet
 

Li Cunxin

True Source: Famed ballet dancer Li Cunxin finds his source of happiness to be bringing inspiration and hope to children

by Kate Crady

 
Li Cunxin's rise from a young peasant in impoverished China to one of the world’s most celebrated international ballet stars is both remarkable and inspiring. A man of great faith and perseverance, Li's joyful spirit is ever mindful of his povertystricken childhood growing up in a remote village in northeast China.

Cunxin’s (pronounced “twin-sing”) first eleven years were filled with continuous hardship as Li, his parents, and six brothers struggled with hunger and poverty on a daily basis. “Despite our poverty, our parents always taught us to have dignity, honesty, and pride,” says Li. Cunxin’s fate changed in a single moment when his teacher pointed him out to delegates sent by then Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s wife, Jiang Qing, to draft students to Madame Mao’s new dance academy. Away from the loving shelter and staggeringpoverty of his childhood home, he trained arduously at the Beijing Dance Academy. “The fear of what I would return to kept me going, and I took to heart my dear mother’s advice, ‘Go and do something special with your life. Don’t look back!’ ” Li was determined to be the greatest dancer in the world so he could help his parents and six brothers have a better life.

In 1979, at the age of eighteen, Cunxin was discovered by Ben Stevenson, then artistic director of Houston Ballet. Stevenson was visiting the Beijing Dance Academy as part of a cultural delegation. That same year, after President Richard Nixon’s historical visit to China, Li received a scholarship to study in America. When he arrived in the United States, Li was
amazed at the freedom that existed outside of the communist state he grew up in. The country he was taught to hate was actually a world where nothing was impossible, and dreams could be realized by hard work. After nearly two years in Houston, he knew he could not return to a life of daily restriction, severe repression, and unrealized dreams. After the political fallout of his defection subsided, Li went on to become one of the most revered dancers of his generation as a principal dancer with Houston Ballet. Li now lives with his wife and their three children in Australia. After dancing for the Australian Ballet for three years, Li works in finance as director of the Asian desk of international investment firm Bell Potter Securities.

During a stellar dance career at Houston Ballet spanning from 1981 to 1995, Li met many brave children at Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he danced for the children’s cancer wing. He said he was touched by the courage and determination he found at the Ronald McDonald House, where many children lived while receiving treatment. Today, when visiting Houston, Li visits T-CARE’s Tejas Home for Youth, a home for children who cannot live at home due to abuse and severe neglect.

Memories of his painful childhood still fuel Li’s desire to help children and families struggling to survive crisis conditions. Li regularly raises funds for numerous charities, including the annual United Nations UNICEF gala, where he often serves as celebrity speaker. The difficulties he survived in his life fueled his desire to help organizations serving the poor, hungry, homebound, and children with cancer. Li has developed a lifelong passion for working with agencies that serve those who cannot afford to feed their families or obtain medical care. “In every country, abuse crosses economic and ethnic lines - it’s across the board,” says Li. “Even in poverty, I was fortunate to have a happy upbringing in a home full of love. But that is not always the case. Even in America, thousands of children are suffering. It is the greatest tragedy of every society.”

Working with UNICEF Australia, Li helps raise funds for underprivileged children of the world and to direct attention to the international problems of child exploitation. He donates his time and funds to agencies that continue research programs seeking cures for childhood diseases caused by AIDS and cancer.

Left: Li Cunxin with wife, Mary McKendry; (left) son Tom; and daughters Bridie and Sophie on St. Kilda Beach, Melbourne.

Cunxin is also an avid supporter of The Cochlear Research Institute in Australia. The acclaimed organization conducts ongoing research to help those who are hearing-impaired, providing support to those who cannot afford the implant. The cause is close to his heart. When Li and wife, former dancer Mary McKendry, discovered their first child was born profoundly deaf, their four-year-old daughter became one of the youngest children to receive a cochlear implant. With the implant, Sophie can hear like other children, and, at 15, displays her parents’ natural musicality. Li swells with pride as he describes dance recitals where Sophie excels in jazz, tap, and ballet.

Li’s work ethic is unequalled. “Nothing can stop him,” say those close to him. With his characteristic determination, Li’s dream is to establish a scholarship fund in support of educational needs of underprivileged children in third-world countries. “One thing I tell my kids is ‘You can be anything you want to be,’” says Li. With all the opportunities offered in the Western world, there really is no excuse for not doing with your life what you want. “But,” he adds, “I teach them their true source of happiness is to try to bring inspiration and hope into the lives of others.”

Li details his remarkable journey in his inspiring autobiography, Mao’s Last Dancer, which remained on the top ten best sellers in non-fiction list in Australia for over eleven consecutive months and is now available in the United States.