Resistance can be defined as opposing or fighting unjust, oppressive systems or power holders through action or argument (newtactics). In the film Mao's Last Dancer as well as Cabaret, resistance is displayed through characters actions, but also through dance performance. In both films , dance works as a means of escape, representing one's fundamental individual rights. The dance styles of ballet and burlesque performed in the films, combine art, passion and subject matters into a cultural resistance against autocracy. Mao's Last Dancer tells the story of ballet dancer Li Cunxin and his struggle against persecution as well as his fight for individual rights during the era of Mao's cultural revolution. The cultural revolution was a sociopolitical