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| Listener Rating |
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| 37 listener votes for this album. |
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| East meets West in this Ballet drama |
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| By: | Jadedtitan |
| Date: | 1 Aug 2011 |
| Rating: |
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Mao’s Last Dancer is a beautifully told true story about Li Cunxin, a Chinese dancer who found his way to the US and learned to fly. The score is broken up into six different parts, separating changes in Li’s life, his time in his small village in Qingdao province, learning ballet in Beijing, when westerners first visited the ballet school, his trip to Houston, defecting to the US and then his return home to China.
The first track is ahead of the first part of Li’s story. <b>Out of the Well</b>, showcases the primary Chinese instruments, the Chinese flue, ehru and pipa. It is a quick upbeat happy track as the listener is introduced to China. The first part of the story is <b><i>Qingdao</b></i> and the first track of that section is <b>Village Life</b>. This track follows the first, similar in sound with the Chinese instruments creating and developing the melody with added brass drums. <b>Lullaby </b> is a slower more solemn song with <b> Story of the Frog </b> played out mainly on the Chinese flute in a slow meandering way as Li’s father tells him this story of the from in the well. The last track of Li’s village life is <b>Family</b> and keeps the same melody as the Frog and Village life tracks only more slow and reflective. Showing Li’s difficulty in leaving his family at such a young age and not knowing what awaits him in far off Beijing.
The second section of Li’s journey is <b><i>Beijing</b></i>, this section has elements of the Chinese instruments but also has more traditional western music to show that ballet was a western art , modeled after western dances and musicians. The first track of the section, <b>The Archer</b> is another story for Li, that he must persevere and only by building up his muscles would he be able to be the best, as the archer is in the story. This has the ehru playing the main melody with somber violins in the background. <b>Pas de Deux</b> shows off the first dance number, soft gentle piano guiding the movements. <b>Turning Points</b> goes back to the Chinese ehru with more traditional Chinese music played to showcase the ballet’s attempt to make their dance more Chinese. <b>Giselle</b> is the first track of classical music on the score which was arranged by Gordon. The track is very European in its bombast brass and clashing cymbals. The original piece was done by Burgmuller. <b> Exercises for Pianoforte</b> is just a track of quick short piano pieces which the ballet dancers use to warm up by, in different progressing keys. <b> Madame’s Model Ballet</b> is another Chinese ballet piece, with a blend of both western and eastern instruments. Upbeat and happy in its telling of the successful Chinese peasants beating back the imperialists. <b>Becoming a Dancer</b> is the last of this sections pieces, illustrating Li’s efforts to be the best he can be. It touches the theme of his Village life played with the ehru while advancing that theme by making it more full and complex with added strings.
<b><i>A Meeting of Cultures</b></i> is the next section, when American ballet dancers come to tour in China. <b>Free Dance</b> is the first track, it is a wild, jazzy sort of ballet dance which is kept upbeat and fast. <b>Dance of Longing</b> then is the complete opposite sort of dance, sowing a slow, melancholy and dramatic side to the art. A violin carries the listener through the longing of the two dancers. <b></i>Houston</b></i> is the next step, when Li is able to make a trip to the US to dance for the Houston ballet company. The next four tracks are all traditional pieces that were just arranged for the film by Gordon. <b>Don Quixote</b> by Minkus, <b>Sonata in D</b> by Mozart and <b>White & Black Swan Lake</b> by Tchaikovsky.
<b><i>Without a Country</b></i> marks the next stage of Li’s life, with <b> The Consulate</b> being the first track. This piece is particularly sad, both western and eastern instruments are used, showing Li being torn between wanting to stay in the US and being forced to remain in China. <b>Pas de Deux (Reprise)</b> returns to the first Pas de Deux track melody, the soft gentle piano guiding Li’s dancing. <b>Brush Dance</b> goes back to the traditional Chinese instruments, the pipa and ehru play a slow meandering story. <b>Break up and Reunion</b> is the last track of this section, when Li breaks up with his first wife and is reunited with his parents. The Pas de Deux theme plays first in the track with the ehru bringing back the Chinese element, showing that Li will always be a part of both worlds. <b><i>Return</b></i> marks the end of the story of Li’s life, the last track of the score, <b>Village Dance and Finale</b> showcase this return to China, where he is given his citizenship back and is allowed to return home. An elegant melody plays out on the violin, bringing the story to its conclusion, including classical dance music allowing Li and his wife to dance for his parents and his village.
The music lends so much to the film, it is more integral in the telling as the ballet music is the core of what Li struggles with in defecting to the US and dealing with who he is as a dancer and a Chinese man. Overall Love the music and highly recommend seeing the film as well.
4 of 4 found this review helpful
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