Li Cunxin

Li Cunxin AO (b. 1961) is the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet. Born into an impoverished family in rural Qingdao, China, Li was selected for the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of eleven. After seven years' training, he received permission to train with the Houston Ballet in the United States. He defected just days before his scheduled return to China in 1981. For sixteen years, he performed with the Houston Ballet, becoming a principal dancer and appearing with companies across the world. After marrying the Australian dancer Mary McKendry, he became principal artist with The Australian Ballet in Melbourne in 1995. During four years with the company he maintained a punishing regimen, training and working as a stockbroker in between rehearsals and performances. Published in 2003, Li's autobiography Mao's Last Dancer was adapted into a feature film in 2009. In 2012, he became the Queensland Ballet’s fifth artistic director.

Commissioned to paint this portrait of Cunxin in 2018, Jun Chen noted: 'Not only do we share a common heritage and culture, but to an extent we share a similar journey, leaving our country of birth to pursue our artistic careers. I wanted to show Li as he is, a lifelong dancer, self-assured, depicted in the world that he knows best and surrounded by other dancers about to undertake the rigours of rehearsal in preparation for another performance.'

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2018
© Jun Chen