A Girl Named Faithful Plum
The True Story of a Dancer from China and How She Achieved Her Dream
Richard Bernstein
- In
- 1977,
- when
- Zhongmei
- Lei
- was
- eleven
- years
- old,
- she
- learned
- that
- the
- prestigious
- Beijing
- Dance
- Academy
- was
- having
- open
- auditions.
- She'd
- already
- taken
- dance
- lessons,
- but
- everyone
- said
- a
- poor
- country
- girl
- would
- never
- get
- into
- the
- academy,
- especially
- without
- any
- connections
- in
- the
- Communist
- Party
- of
- the
- 1970s.
- But
- Zhongmei,
- whose
- name
- means
- Faithful
- Plum,
- persisted,
- even
- going
- on
- a
- hunger
- strike,
- until
- her
- parents
- agreed
- to
- allow
- her
- to
- go.
- She
- traveled
- for
- three
- days
- and
- two
- nights
- to
- get
- to
- Beijing
- and
- eventually
- beat
- out
- 60,000
- other
- girls
- for
- one
- of
- 12
- coveted
- spots.
- But
- getting
- in
- was
- easy
- compared
- to
- staying
- in,
- as
- Zhongmei
- soon
- learned.
- Without
- those
- all-important
- connections
- she
- was
- just
- a
- little
- girl
- on
- her
- own,
- far
- away
- from
- family.
- But
- her
- determination,
- talent,
- and
- sheer
- force
- of
- will
- were
- not
- something
- the
- teachers
- or
- other
- students
- expected,
- and
- soon
- it
- was
- apparent
- that
- Zhongmei
- was
- not
- to
- be
- underestimated.Zhongmei
- became
- a
- famous
- dancer,
- and
- founded
- her
- own
- dance
- company,
- which
- made
- its
- New
- York
- debut
- when
- she
- was
- in
- just
- her
- late
- 20s.
- In
- A
- Girl
- Named
- Faithful
- Plum,
- her
- husband
- and
- renowned
- journalist,
- Richard
- Bernstein,
- has
- written
- a
- fascinating
- account
- of
- one
- girl's
- struggle
- to
- go
- from
- the
- remote
- farmlands
- of
- China
- to
- the
- world's
- stages,
- and
- the
- lengths
- she
- went
- to
- in
- order
- to
- follow
- her dream.
