Mao's Last Melbourne Dancer
It might be Australian Football League Grand Final Week with all the mob hysteria that involves, but you would never have known it last night in Melbourne (and Sydney a couple of days before).
China Town came to the Regent Theatre and the Sofitel Hotel for the glittering premiere of Mao’s Last Dancer the much-awaited film directed by Bruce Beresford of Chinese dancer/turned stockbroker Li Cunxin’s autobiography.
The black tie and frocked up crowd milling round the pavement in Melbourne’s main Collins Street in the CBDs flowed into the theatre for champagne and a packaged bite to watch The Australian Ballet School taking class on stage, before a rollup of the producers, writers and stars introduced the film. That included two Chinese dancers cast as the teenage and adult Li – or Cunxin, to be correct.
Former Pin-up Principal and dancing darling of the Australian public, Steven Heathcote plays a Principal of the Houston Ballet in the film, alongside Madeline Eastoe and Camilla Vergotis of The Australian Ballet, who portray other main characters – the latter is Li’s wife, Mary McKendry.
The big stars of the film are Chi Cao (Australian Ballet) and Chengwu Guo (Birmingham Royal Ballet), who blew the audiences away with his dancing and his portrayal of Li Cunxin, in general.
This film is a knockout. The story has been adapted with sensitivity and the filming of the dancing, handled with expertise – a rare occurrence in the filming of dance.
Genius choreographer (and former Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company) Graeme Murphy has made a brilliant job of choreographing the film. You could feel the audience wanting to clap each performance, as they did, the film. The dancers were from Australian Ballet & Sydney Dance Company.
We descended the steps of the Regent still transported – to be jolted back to the present with explosion of Chinese crackers, a Chinese Dragon and Masked performers. They escorted us up the street to the Sofitel, which was transformed for the night into an opium parlour style space.
Steven Heathcote was the host of the reception, which was still buzzing as this writer left.
Mao’s Last Dancer is headed for international box office success (or I’ll dance through China Town).
China Town came to the Regent Theatre and the Sofitel Hotel for the glittering premiere of Mao’s Last Dancer the much-awaited film directed by Bruce Beresford of Chinese dancer/turned stockbroker Li Cunxin’s autobiography.
The black tie and frocked up crowd milling round the pavement in Melbourne’s main Collins Street in the CBDs flowed into the theatre for champagne and a packaged bite to watch The Australian Ballet School taking class on stage, before a rollup of the producers, writers and stars introduced the film. That included two Chinese dancers cast as the teenage and adult Li – or Cunxin, to be correct.
Former Pin-up Principal and dancing darling of the Australian public, Steven Heathcote plays a Principal of the Houston Ballet in the film, alongside Madeline Eastoe and Camilla Vergotis of The Australian Ballet, who portray other main characters – the latter is Li’s wife, Mary McKendry.
The big stars of the film are Chi Cao (Australian Ballet) and Chengwu Guo (Birmingham Royal Ballet), who blew the audiences away with his dancing and his portrayal of Li Cunxin, in general.
This film is a knockout. The story has been adapted with sensitivity and the filming of the dancing, handled with expertise – a rare occurrence in the filming of dance.
Genius choreographer (and former Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company) Graeme Murphy has made a brilliant job of choreographing the film. You could feel the audience wanting to clap each performance, as they did, the film. The dancers were from Australian Ballet & Sydney Dance Company.
We descended the steps of the Regent still transported – to be jolted back to the present with explosion of Chinese crackers, a Chinese Dragon and Masked performers. They escorted us up the street to the Sofitel, which was transformed for the night into an opium parlour style space.
Steven Heathcote was the host of the reception, which was still buzzing as this writer left.
Mao’s Last Dancer is headed for international box office success (or I’ll dance through China Town).
posted by Jill@flyingconnoisseur at 1:02 AM
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