by Allan Tong for FILMbutton.com

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As the Mao era crumbled in China, his cultural delegates plucked 11-year-old Li Cunxin from his poor Chinese village and took him to Beijing to study ballet. In China, that’s pretty much like boot camp. Kids followed a strict regimen that left no room for weakness or individuality. In Li’s case, it led to a cultural exchange in 1979 where he went to dance for the Houston Ballet. Li would fall in love with an American girl and become a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet.

Mao’s Little Dancer is based on Li’s autobiography and spends a lot of time cutting back and forth between China and Houston to establish the back story. This unnecessarily slows down the film since we quickly understand what environment Li came from. When the film does get rolling it creates a fine momentum and finally hits some emotional notes that were lacking in the first half of the film.

Trained at the Beijing Dance Academy and the Royal Ballet School, Chi Cao debuts as an actor and manages to carry the film as the adult Li. He is convincing in portraying Li as the wide-eyed alien then maturing into the pro dancer who embraces America. Bruce Greenwood tries, but isn’t entirely convincing as the Houston Ballet’s gay Ben Stevenson. Stronger are Kyle MacLachlan who cameos as Li’s lawyer and Joan Chen as Li’s mum back in rural China.

Without giving away the ending, Mao’s Little Dancer loses steam near the end, though it is redeemed by a memorable final.

Allan Tong is a filmmaker, Toronto-based festival programmer and film journalist who specializes in rock music.