Mao’s Last Dancer Characters

Jing Tring is the youngest of Niang and Dia’s sons. His brothers are Cuncia, Cunyuan, Cunmao, Cunsang, Cunfar, and Cunxin. When Mary and Cunxin visit Cunxin’s family in China, they attend Jing Tring’s modern Chinese wedding.

Delworth Langlinais is the husband of Lori Langlinais. He and his wife help Cunxin and Elizabeth with their secret wedding. After Cunxin defects, Langlinais takes on the role of big brother to the young dancer. He dies in a car accident in the mid-1980s.

Lori Langlinais is a dancer at the Houston Ballet who takes Cunxin—and later Elizabeth Mackey—under her wing. She and her husband, Delworth, she play a critical role in Cunxin and Elizabeth’s secret marriage.

Charles Foster is an immigration lawyer whom Delworth and Lori Langlinais introduce to Cunxin. He helps Cunxin defect to the United States in 1981 and later works to secure Cunxin’s American citizenship. The two men remain good friends even after Cunxin’s place in America is secured.

One of Dia’s older brothers, Fourth Uncle lives with his wife, Fourth Aunt, at the Li family compound where he helps to support and care for Na-na. Because he and his wife are childless, they adopt Cunmao when he is a toddler and raise him as their own.

Yang Ping is an elementary school classmate of Li Cunxin. The two become friends despite the former enmity between their families. When their roughhousing leads to Yang Ping breaking his arm, Cunxin learns an important lesson about personal accountability.

Chen Leung is a ballet instructor at the Beijing Dance Academy. He is one of the teachers tasked with auditioning and recruiting peasant children in the countryside. In this capacity, he selects Li Cunxin for consideration at Teacher Song’s suggestion.

Song Ciayang is Li Cunxin’s elementary school teacher. She points him out to Chen Leung, thus setting Cunxin on his path to a dancing career and his escape from the poverty of his rural upbringing.

Consul Zhang is a Chinese official serving in Houston during the time of Cunxin’s defection. He tries to detain Cunxin at the Houston Chinese Consulate. Eventually, he returns to China where he becomes the mayor of a large city.

Barbara Bush is the wife of George Bush. A patron of the Houston Ballet and personal friend of Ben Stevenson, she befriends Cunxin soon after he arrives in America.

Chong Xiongjun is a Beijing native and student at the Beijing Dance Academy who befriends Li Cunxin. Xiongjun’s parents and grandmother become like a second family to Cunxin during his years in Beijing.

Zhu Yaoping is a student recruited to the Beijing Dance Academy from Shanghai. Despite their difficulty understanding each other through their different accents, he and Li Cunxin become friends early on in their time at the school.

The Wuho Man is an elderly, childless resident of the village where Li Cunxin grows up. He tells marvelous stories to the village children, and he teaches Niang folk remedies when the family cannot afford to visit the local doctors.

Teacher Gao is the Beijing Opera Movement teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy. A harsh, demanding man, he tends to bully the students and call them names. Eventually, Cunxin stands up to him and learns an important lesson about self-advocacy.

Louisa Sarofim is a Houston Ballet board member and friend of Ben Stevenson who takes Cunxin and Zhang Weiqiang under her wing during their first visit to America.

Martha Butler is a young, 17-year-old ballerina who, along with Cunxin, represents the Houston Ballet at the 1984 Japan International Ballet Competition.

Betty Lou is a mutual friend of Cunxin, Ben Stevenson, and George and Barbara Bush.

Sophie Li is the eldest child of Cunxin and Mary McKendry. Her siblings are Thomas Li and Birdie Li. She was diagnosed with profound deafness early in her life, leading to Mary’s decision to retire early from dancing.

Thomas Li is the middle child of Cunxin and Mary McKendry. His siblings are Sophie Li and Thomas Li.

Birdie Li is the third and youngest child of Cunxin and Mary McKendry. Her older siblings are Sophie Li and Thomas Li.

Director Wang is the leader of the Beijing Dance Academy during Li Cunxin’s first few years of study.

Sien Yu is Li Cunxin’s childhood best friend, dating to the time before either boy goes to school.