Young Li (Huang Wen Bin) is raised in rural China in a large peasant family. His mother (Joan Chen) and father (Wang Shuang Bao) are thrilled when he is chosen by Chinese communist officials to attend Madame Mao's dance school in Beijing. Li (Chengwu Guo) is not prepared for the rigorous training and the stretching of his limbs. One of his teachers admires his natural balletic skills while another states that he must do a lot more work to build himself up and become much stronger.

As an adult, Li (Chi Cao) has been drilled in the Mao regime's party line and is willing to follow orders when he must perform in a revolutionary ballet saluting the spirit of Chinese communism. After the performance, his favorite teacher is arrested for opposing the changes in the approach to ballet in the Beijing dance school. Ironically, the one who forced Li to gain physical strength casts the swing vote needed to send him to summer school in Houston, Texas, as part of a cultural exchange program.

The shy and reserved young dancer is met at the airport by Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood), artistic director of the Houston Ballet, along with friends and supporters. The first thing Li says upon viewing Ben's house is: "This is all yours?" This disciplined young man deeply misses his family and his home in China. Ben offers him plenty of encouragement and also serves as an informal cultural mentor.

Li adapts well to the challenges of dancing in the Houston Ballet and rises to the challenge — his big chance — when Ben decides to have him replace the lead performer in a ballet that has generated a lot of public interest. Li transcends Ben's expectations, but he remains private. When he begins dating Liz (Amanda Schull), the dancer does not tell his greatest supporter, and so it comes as a complete surprise to Ben when Li considers marrying her. Complications arise when the dancer tries to plead his case for staying in the U.S. before Chinese officials after his official visit time has expired.

Mao's Last Dancer is directed by Bruce Beresford with a screenplay by Jan Sardi based on Li Cunxin's autobiography of the same title. As he has demonstrated in Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies, Crimes of the Heart, and Paradise Road, Australian director Bruce Beresford is a master craftsman of character-driven dramas, pulling us into close encounters with people struggling for freedom, independence, meaning, love, or community. In Mao's Last Dancer, we empathize with a stranger in a strange land who seeks to remake himself, fulfill his dream of becoming a respected dancer, find love, and reconnect with his family and homeland. In a tour de force performance, Chi Cao not only dazzles us with his dancing prowess (marvel at his leaps!) but with the ease he exudes in his responses to cultural and political challenges. There is a genuine emotional undertow to Mao's Last Dancer that brings to mind Billy Elliot and Slumdog Millionaire. We can guarantee that the closing scenes will bring tears to your eyes.