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SINGAPORE: "Mao's Last Dancer" is a film based on the true story of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin, who was plucked at a young age from his poverty stricken family in a remote Chinese village and forced to undergo difficult ballet training, before growing up to become one of the top dancers of that era.
It is also a dramatic tale of how Li fought to stay in the United States to pursue his passion for ballet and his deep love for an Australian ballerina he met there.
The film's director Bruce Beresford (of "Driving Miss Daisy" fame) said on multiple occasions that the greatest obstacle was finding the right person to play the adult Li.
According to Beresford, the person had to be an excellent dancer as today's audience can tell if a double is used, a real good looker to resemble the handsome Li in his heyday and someone who can speak both English and Mandarin, because Li learnt English when he went to the US.
Fortunately, they found Birmingham Royal Ballet's 32-year-old principal dancer Chi Cao, who fit the bill in every way: Li and Chi, both Chinese, are extremely gifted dancers and started their ballet training at the Beijing Dance Academy. Chi is good looking and resembles Li. He also speaks excellent English, after staying in London for years.
As a bonus, Chi, like Li, left everything behind to further his dancing career overseas and could identify with Li's emotions at that time.
You would think that Chi, who got the part on Li's personal recommendation, would have no trouble with the role at all but that is not the case.
Despite satisfying the various pre-requisites of the role, when first-time actor Chi saw the camera in front of him on the very first day of shooting, he was scared stiff.
"I just froze. I blanked out, completely blanked out! I didn't know what I was supposed to say," said Chi with a sheepish smile, during an interview at a press event for the film which opened the Singapore Film Festival last Thursday.
No Pain, No Gain
Chi had to take an intensive acting course with a professional acting coach to understand filmmaking and become a better actor. He also had to adjust his dance performance to look better on film.
"In front of an audience I have to do everything more dramatic because I want the people in the back row to be able to see what I am doing, but in front of the camera, I have to do less because otherwise I look ridiculous," he said with a laugh, after dramatically sweeping his arm up and down.
"That was the balance I had to find, it took me a good month to find that balance."
Even though he was busy filming, that did not mean he could neglect his dance training. Chi had to find time to train and keep in top dancing form for the numerous dance sequences in the movie.
"It was a struggle to keep in shape... I have dancing to do in the film. To do those demanding dance [routines], I have to train," said Chi.
Unfortunately, they were shooting on a very tight schedule, so he had to get up especially early to train or spend his lunch break training, just so he can give his best in front of the camera.
"I tell you, for three months, [I was] waking up at 4am, the earliest I woke up was 3am and it really took a lot out of me, it was so hard.
"I just didn't want to do it anymore, it was like 'Oh My God!' you know, 'it's too hard', but you have to," said Chi, with his hands on his temples, as though merely thinking about those difficult times gave him a headache. "That was the hardest thing actually."
Beyond the Stage
Despite all the hardship, Chi said the film was worth every sacrifice.
He was overjoyed at having the chance to work with veteran actress Joan Chen and having his dance technique immortalised on film.
Chi was so pleased with how the film turned out that he is toying with the idea of going into acting once he concludes his dance career.
The virtuoso ballet dancer said that he has played in all the major ballet venues in the world, won numerous dance awards and "achieved what I wanted to achieve in dance" so he yearned to "try something different" before hastily adding that he was not being arrogant but simply stating how he felt.
Chi also pointed out that he will never follow the footsteps of Li, who became a successful stock-broker after retiring from the stage.
"No, I don't have the business brain like [Li] did, I hate, I hate numbers! I was very bad in Math when I was young, I hate them," he said while vigorously shaking his head.
"So I don't think I would make a very good stockbroker, I would probably, you know, get sacked in the first week," said Chi before breaking into laughter.
"Mao's Last Dancer" opens islandwide on April 22.
- CNA
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