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2008 was a pivotal year in China's history, especially the success of the Beijing Olympics, which became an important symbol of national pride, but behind these dazzling glories, there was a person who experienced a huge turning point in his life, and her story is not well known to everyone.
The dancer, Liu Yan, was paralyzed for life after falling from a height during a rehearsal for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She fell from the glorious stage to the bottom of life, but her story did not end at that moment, Liu Yan used her tenacity and perseverance to reinterpret the possibilities of life in the following 16 years.
On the night of that rehearsal, Liu Yan had to perform a solo dance, called "Silk Road", which symbolized the integration and transmission of civilizations on the ancient Silk Road. Standing on a three-metre-high stage, she prepares to complete a difficult move from the scroll to the float, a move she has practiced countless times without making a mistake.
However, fate took a turn at that moment, as the float moved a second ahead of schedule, and she was leaping in the air and losing her balance. The short second brought irreversible consequences, she fell from the air and fell heavily to the ground, and the scene fell into chaos and panic.
After being rushed to the hospital, doctors diagnosed Liu Yan's spine as severely damaged, and the dislocation of the twelfth thoracic vertebra led to high paraplegia. This bad news destroyed Liu Yan's originally bright career prospects, and she could no longer rely on her legs to dance on the stage, and Liu Yan's life trajectory has changed dramatically.
As a girl who has loved dance since childhood, Liu Yan has gone from the Beijing Dance Academy all the way to the champion of the National Dance Competition to the stage of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, and her career should have been brilliant and successful. However, a sudden accident made her fall from a dazzling star standing in the center of the stage to the bottom of her life in an instant, she could no longer jump with her legs like in the past, and the future she once dreamed of was completely shattered.
After experiencing the initial anger, pain, and despair, Liu Yan gradually realized that although her body's abilities were limited, her soul and love remained. She began to rethink her life, and although she could no longer stand in the center of the stage as before, she found another way to continue her dream of dance, and she decided to enter the academic field to study the dance she loved.
In 2010, Liu Yan was admitted to the Beijing Dance Academy as a doctoral student, specializing in Chinese classical dance, hand dance, as an important part of Chinese classical dance, although relatively unpopular, can express rich emotions and cultural connotations through delicate hand movements. Liu Yan realized that although her legs could no longer move, her hands could still be the link between her and dance.
She often sits for more than ten hours at a time and concentrates on research and writing, her fingers dancing on the book as if she is completing another form of dance. In 2016, she received her Ph.D. and published a monograph, A Study of Classical Chinese Dance and Hand Dance, which caused a sensation in the dance academic community and filled a gap in the theoretical study of classical Chinese dance.
But Liu Yan was not satisfied with words on paper, she was eager to return to the stage and continue to express her emotions and passions in another way, and in 2010 she returned to the stage in a wheelchair and completed a special dance performance with hand movements. The success of the performance made the audience realize that the soul and emotions of the dancers are not limited by the body.
Liu Yan danced in the air with her fingers, telling her inner joys, sorrows and sorrows, and won warm applause from the audience. This performance not only allowed Liu Yan to regain his self-confidence, but also allowed people to see another possibility of dance art.
Liu Yan's story is not limited to the dance stage, she also uses her power to influence more people, especially those children who are eager to dance like her, but are limited by physical conditions. She began to visit special schools and rehabilitation centres on a regular basis, teaching dance to children with disabilities and helping them express themselves through simple hand movements.
She used her own experience to tell these children that being disabled does not mean the end of life, and that dreams will never disappear because of physical limitations. Liu Yan believes that dance is not just a physical movement, but also an expression of the soul, and her actions have ignited the flame of hope for these children and encouraged them to face life bravely.
In 2024, she will star in the drama The Price of Life, which explores the psychological changes and social interactions faced by people with disabilities and able-bodied people.
Although this is her first encounter with drama acting, she uses her perseverance and professionalism to vividly interpret the inner pain faced by people with disabilities and the hope of rebirth.
During the rehearsal process, Liu Yan encountered many difficulties, and her long-term wheelchair life made her physical condition not ideal, and she often felt unwell, but she never gave up. Liu Yan firmly believes that the power of art can transcend the limitations of the body, and she uses every rehearsal to break through herself.
On the night of the play's premiere, when she appeared on stage, the audience applauded like a tidal wave. Liu Yan's performance touched the hearts of the audience, and she proved that disability is not the end of artistic creation, but another new starting point.
Looking back on Liu Yan's story, she has changed from a dancer to a scholar, a professor, a drama actor and an advocate of public welfare, and this transformation of multiple identities is Liu Yan's breakthrough in life and the redefinition of self-worth. In the past 16 years, Liu Yan has experienced countless falls and re-ups, but she has never stopped pursuing art and exploring life.
Liu Yan uses her story to tell us that the value of life is not what you lose, but how you use what you have to create your own wonderful. Her rebirth is not only a victory of personal will, but also a deep reflection on the meaning of life, no matter what the future holds, Liu Yan's soul has been eternally soaring in her dance, scholarship and public welfare.
Information sources:
After the new polishing, the national tour will start next year Dancer Liu Yan uses "Blue Skirt" to talk about "red spy war" 2023-11-18 20:39 · Beiqing Net
Chinese and Swiss dancers use "hands" as the medium, Liu Yan's "I Breathe Again" premiere 2024-07-07 12:13 · Beijing Daily client