Mao’s last dancer retires: Li Cunxin takes his final bow
By Kerrie O'Brien and Nell Geraets
After a celebrated career as a world-class ballet dancer, choreographer and finally, artistic director of the Queensland Ballet, Li Cunxin has announced he will retire.
Li’s memoir was made into the film Mao’s Last Dancer, telling of his extraordinary rise from extreme poverty in China to performing around the world at the highest levels of ballet.
Li Cunxin, known as Mao’s Last Dancer, will retire at the end of the year. Credit: Glenn Hunt
On Tuesday, the Queensland Ballet confirmed Li had been diagnosed with a heart condition and “has been troubled by serious health concerns since 2022”.
The 62-year-old described the past 11 years at the helm of the state dance company as some of the most rewarding of his life. “I’m incredibly grateful to have been surrounded by a contagious energy, an unbreakable spirit of dancers, creatives and of course, all of our dedicated supporters,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Li said leaving was a bittersweet decision that he and his wife, Mary McKendry, did not take lightly.
“It’s really time for both of us to focus on our health,” he said. “I’m so proud of what we have achieved as a team over the past 11 years ... But what I’m most proud of today is Queensland Ballet is a company with international respect, reputation and admiration.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Li said leaving was a bittersweet decision.Credit: Jakob Perrett
The company would always hold a special place in his heart, he said, adding that he was confident they would be able to find an exceptional replacement who would continue the culture of excellence he helped develop throughout his tenure.
“My wife and I will never be far away,” he said. “We will probably be the biggest cheerleaders in the audience and will support [Queensland Ballet] in whatever way we can.”
He and McKendry, originally from Rockhampton, worked together as principal dancers at the Houston Ballet and moved to Melbourne in 1995, with their young family, where he became a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.
In July 2012, he took up the reins at Queensland Ballet, with Mary working alongside him. He leaves the company with an ensemble of 48 dancers – double what he came to – a world-class young artists program of 12 dancers and a newly redeveloped home, the Thomas Dixon Centre.
The sixth of seven sons, he grew in a village in north-east China during Chairman Mao Zedong’s Communist regime. One day, quite by chance – a chance in a billion – Li’s life changed when, at the age of 11, he was chosen to join Madame Mao’s Central 5-7 Performing Arts University in Beijing.
When he was spotted by an American choreographer, Li was invited to participate in a summer school with the Houston Ballet; he subsequently defected to the United States, where he would meet his first wife, Elizabeth Mackay, and spend the next 16 years.
In his book Mao’s Last Dancer, he writes about a story his father told him about a frog, which was trapped in a deep, dark well but could see the sky yet never reach it. Inspired by this as a young boy, he started sending messages to the gods on pieces of paper attached to his kite. First he wished for his mother’s happiness, second for his father’s good health and third “to get me out of the well so I could help my family”.
“I’d always lived with the harsh reality of not having enough food to fill our stomachs, of seeing my parents struggle, of witnessing people dying of starvation, of constantly being trapped in that same hopeless, vicious cycle as my forefathers,” he writes.
He told this masthead in 2003 that he always had big dreams. “From a very young age, I held a deep-seated sadness that I wanted to do something and that has been achieved through hard, hard work and a lot of luck.”
The luck, he says, was firstly being chosen to join the Beijing academy “as I had no dancing skills at all, only a body which looked flexible enough to train”, and then being chosen to perform as a guest with the Houston Ballet in the US “which gave me the first taste of true artistic freedom I’d never dreamed possible”.
Mary McKendry and Li Cunxin performing with the Australian Ballet in 1990.
Though Li looked fondly upon his entire time at Queensland Ballet, he said he would dearly miss a few elements upon his departure, such as witnessing the collaboration between multiple creative energies on-stage.
“What I will miss most is working with talented, inspiring young people and helping them deliver and achieve the best in life,” he said. “And I will also miss ... the combination of the music and dance together, creating that powerful magic and grace. It really brings so much happiness to our audience.”
It was that happiness – the smiles on people’s faces as they enjoyed the powerful performances before them – that Li said would remain close to his heart well into retirement. “I’m thrilled that perhaps I’ve played a small part in bringing more people into the audience or [making them] lovers of the ballet.”
Among those paying tribute were film director Baz Luhrmann and his wife Catherine Martin. “Li Cunxin’s impact on the creative landscape of Australia will be felt for years to come. His decade at the helm of Queensland Ballet exemplifies the world-class arts and culture that has transformed our region,” Luhrmann said.
Artistic director of the Australian Ballet David Hallberg said Li left an impressive legacy. “From his choice of resident choreographers, to his guest teachers, and lastly the incomparable Thomas Dixon Centre, his ambition paid off through the result of quality on stage and behind the scenes.”
Lord Mayor of Brisbane Adrian Schrinner thanked Li and his wife for their role in enhancing the city’s art and culture. “Li and Mary have made an indelible mark on our city and will forever be known as legends of Brisbane ... Brisbane is thinking of you,” he said.
When he arrived in Australia, Li pursued his interest in the stock market, studying and then working early mornings until midday as a stockbroker and then dancing with the Australian Ballet in the afternoons. In 2019, he was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia.
Company dancers and staff were told the news on Tuesday. Li’s wife, Mary, has had her own health battles over the past year and will join Li in retirement at the end of the year from her role as Ballet Mistress and Principal Repetiteur.
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