A young Chinese boy trained at Madame Mao's Dance Academy is sent to Houston – and chooses to stay.
Recognition
Li Cunxin grows up in rural China, selected from poverty to train at the Beijing Dance Academy under the ideology of the Cultural Revolution. He is disciplined, gifted, and wholly formed by the world that made him.
When a cultural exchange sends him to Houston, he encounters a different kind of formation – American freedom, love, and the unsettling experience of wanting to remain. His decision to defect becomes an international incident.
Based on Li Cunxin's autobiography, the film is directed by Bruce Beresford and stars Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, and Joan Chen. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and played Sundance in 2010.