Mao’s Last Dancer (2009)

Name: Mao’s Last Dancer
Released: 2009

At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he falls in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.

Genres: Drama, Romance

What to watch after Mao’s Last Dancer

Lust, Caution (2007)
Center Stage (2000) — Same subject: dance, dancer
The Last Emperor (1987) — Same subject: communism
Dirty Dancing (1987) — Same feel: emotional, uplifting
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) — Same feel: emotional, uplifting
Billy Elliot (2000) — Same subject: ballet dancer, ballet