Li Cunxin has been announced as a recipient of an Order of Australia (AO) in the Queens Birthday Honours List for his “distinguished service to the performing arts, particularly to ballet, as a dancer and as an Artistic Director.”
Li’s career includes 16 years as Principal Dancer at Houston Ballet, four years as Principal Artist with The Australian Ballet followed by a seven-year stint on the Board of The Australian Ballet from 1995 – 2012. Li is also currently the Australian Vice President for the Royal Academy of Dance, was a former patron of the National College of Dance, a member of the Australia Council for the Arts 1995-1999 and a former board member of the Bionics Institute. He was the Queensland Australian of the Year in 2014 and the Australian Father of the Year, Shepherd Centre in 2009.
Li is an amazing and inspiring person. It is our pleasure to learn from and work with him!
Li Cunxin’s journey is simply remarkable. He was born into utter poverty in Mao’s communist China, at a very young age he was selected to train in Madame Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy. So began Li’s journey. The 7 years of harsh training regime at the Beijing Dance Academy taught him discipline, resilience, determination and perseverance. Li’s astounding drive and relentless hard work made him one of the best dancers in the world. He won two silver and a bronze medal at three International Ballet Competitions.
Li then made a successful career transition from ballet to finance. He is a senior manager at one of the largest stockbroking firms in Australia. He was named 2009 Australian Father of the Year.
The inspirational story of Li’s life is recounted in his memoir Mao’s Last Dancer, which quickly rose to No. 1 on the Australian Non-Fiction Best-Seller List and win the Book of the Year Award in Australia and receiving the Christopher Award for Literature in the USA. It went on to become an international bestseller. It’s in the 52nd reprint. Mao’s Last Dancer is now a blockbuster film.
Li’s experiences are real; his journey is incredible; his story is true, and he is the living example of overcome adversity and achieving excellence in life.
Li speakers perfect English and Mandarin. His speaking topics are:
- The key ingredients to achieve great success
- Overcome adversity and achieve excellence
- Embrace changes and Rise up to challenges
- Continuous improvement and positive attitude
- Leadership – Dare to make tough choices
- Goal setting and achieving against impossible obstacles and odds
- Performance process to excellence
- Successful career transition
- Understanding China’s past is key to succeed in present China
Contact us if you would like Li Cunxin to inspire your team.