Neil Breen speaks to Li Cunxin as part of the ongoing Great Queenslander series.

Cunxin’s life story is the foundation for Mao’s Last Dancer, and he now works as the artistic director for Queensland Ballet.

“I was born into such poverty and in Mao’s communist era and life was very, very different to compare what an incredible life we live in the freedom [of] … Australia.”

Image: Bettmann / Getty 

Download this podcast here