Liu Yan, a dancer who has already made a name for himself in the industry, carefully caresses the heavy work in his hand, "The Impression of the Hand, the Study of the Relationship between Handprints and Classical Chinese Hand Dance", and his eyes reveal complex emotions, mixed with joy, anger and sorrow, flowing in the right light.
This book, which is the culmination of years of her painstaking efforts, is not only a demonstration of her academic achievements, but also a testimony of her reshaping life after overcoming obstacles and bravely facing the heavy blows of life.
Thinking back to a few years ago, she was still lying in a hospital bed, full of despair about life, and now, she has re-established herself on the stage she once dreamed of with a new attitude, which undoubtedly makes her feel extremely relieved and satisfied.
The publication of this monograph is undoubtedly the greatest affirmation of her persistent pursuit of dance art, just like the flower of life blooming in the world elsewhere, and the fragrance of time is still permeating.
Liu Yan, the talented artist, expertly flips the pages of a book in his hand, savoring his brainchild. Time seems to go back to 2008 more than 20 years ago, when Liu Yan was in his youth and was a rising dance star.
Born in Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, she has had a deep love for dance since she was a child, and this obsession with art seems to have a natural fit and sense of mission with her birth name "Yan".
Liu Yan's parents, both from intellectual families, had a discerning eye for their daughter's extraordinary talent and passion for dance. In order to cultivate Liu Yan's artistic talent, they can be described as exhausted.
At first, they tried to get three-year-old Liu Yan to learn to paint, but soon found that she couldn't calm down and always got paint all over the floor, and then they arranged for her to learn the violin, but Liu Yan quickly lost interest.
However, when she was nine years old, a turning point of fate appeared, and she encountered dance, as if opening the door to her inner passion, and her love for dance was instantly ignited.
Since then, she has worshiped under the teacher Bai Ying of the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe, and has concentrated on learning the basic skills of dance, although she started late, but with her extraordinary talent and diligent spirit, Liu Yan quickly overtook her peers and became an outstanding dancer.
Under the careful guidance of teacher Bai Ying, Liu Yan, a talented girl, decided to enter the door of the high school attached to Beijing Dance Academy. After six years of ups and downs, she has devoted herself to the sea of dance art with tireless spirit, and every movement is so delicate and graceful, standing out among her peers and being called a leader.
She sweats in the practice room every day, even if the sweat soaks through her clothes, she does not let up.
However, although Liu Yan never missed the various dance competitions held by the school, he never won the championship. This filled her heart with strong faith, until 2002, she won the silver medal of the "Lotus Cup" for her dance work adapted from the classic movie "Rouge Buckle".
Although it is only the runner-up, this is undoubtedly the best reward and incentive for her hard work.
Since then, Liu Yan has devoted himself to training, and finally won the first prize in the 2004 National Dance Competition, winning the highest honor - the gold medal.
With the beautiful dance of "Rouge Buckle", she was praised as a "one-legged fairy" by the audience.
Subsequently, she became famous and performed with Tan Yuanyuan and Yang Liping at the 2006 Spring Festival Gala, becoming a new generation of dance idols who attracted much attention after them.
Just when his career was booming, a phone call brought Liu Yan the biggest challenge and glory in his life.
Being able to perform in such a grand international competition is undoubtedly the highest honor and a severe test for every dancer. Liu Yan was fearless, full of passion, and his joy was beyond words.
She knew the preciousness of this once-in-a-lifetime stage opportunity, and from then on she devoted herself to intense rehearsals.
According to the design, Liu Yan will dance lightly on the colorful silk scroll, elegantly interpreting the image of the "flying goddess". In order to bring this role to life, she practiced her dance moves day after day, knowing every detail.
In this way, the scorching summer of 2008 quietly arrived. On July 27, there are only 12 days left before the opening ceremony. On this day, the Bird's Nest Stadium was brightly lit and the atmosphere was warm, and all the staff were in full swing for the final rehearsal.
Liu Yan arrived at the scene early as usual, changed into a green silk dress, and her makeup was so delicate that she was like a fairy descending into the world.
Everything was originally carried out in an orderly manner according to the preset plan, but Liu Yan, who was responsible for the dancing part of the scroll in the plan, encountered an unexpected change - in the process of pushing the scroll on the platform, she was overturned to the ground by the powerful forward force, and the whole person fell vertically from the edge of the three-meter-high scroll.
The scene instantly fell into chaos, and everyone was stunned by this sudden accident, except for the heavy impact sound made by Liu Yan's body when he landed on the ground.
The actors in the front row let out screams of horror, while the audience in the back row had not yet recovered from the shock.
In this way, Liu Yan lay quietly on the cold floor and fell into a coma. The ambulance rushed to the gymnasium and carefully lifted her onto the car.
Since then, the trajectory of Liu Yan's life has changed dramatically, and she has experienced unprecedented pain and struggle.
After the accident, Liu Yan was rushed to the hospital for treatment. In that cramped ward, she experienced unprecedented torment and despair.
Every time she looked out the window and saw the dazzling Bird's Nest Stadium, tears would involuntarily slide down, and the pain in her heart seemed to swallow her.
On August 8, 2008, the Beijing Olympic Games, known as the "grand event of the century", was grandly opened at the Bird's Nest Stadium. The gongs and drums were noisy and the salute was fired, but Liu Yan couldn't watch the live broadcast because she really couldn't stand the torture.
However, the deafening loud noise still relentlessly reached her ears, almost breaking her mind.
She could only hold on to the sheets, trembling like a helpless child, and weeping bitterly.
Until the fourth day after the opening ceremony, director Zhang Yimou led all the staff to visit Liu Yan. Out of deep guilt, Zhang Yimou personally apologized to her and handed her a beautiful greeting card, full of gratitude and high praise for her contribution to the Olympic cause, and even called her a "hero".
The moment Liu Yan opened the greeting card, tears welled up in his eyes again. She thinks back to her colleagues who panicked and anxious when the accident happened, and the family and friends who gave her encouragement and support day in and day out, all of which kept her going.
So, under the careful guidance of the doctor, she began the long and arduous road of rehabilitation training.
However, the journey to recovery is not as easy as it seems. As a doctor, his mother knew that unless a miracle occurred, Liu Yan might never be able to regain his ability to walk.
Liu Yan is like a quiet and obedient child, clinging to her mother's faint light of hope, and in the process of constantly sharpening herself, her sweat and tears are intertwined to become the mark of her unremitting efforts.
After every exhausting training session, she would sweat profusely and ask her mother, "Do you think I will be cured?" and her mother would always smile with tears in her eyes and give her endless encouragement.
In this way, most of the time passed in a hurry, and Liu Yan gradually understood that no matter how diligently she practiced, her once light and dancing legs may not be able to move freely again in this life.
Liu Yan's self-confidence suffered an unprecedented blow, she fell into a difficult situation in life, and even had the idea of ending her life for a time.
One day, when Liu Yan was holding a glass medicine bottle and trying to release the pain in her heart, the nursing aunt next to her immediately hugged her tightly, and the two hugged each other and cried.
At that moment, Liu Yan deeply realized that her mother was no longer young, and she could no longer be willful.
"If I can't stand up and dance anymore, then let me dance in a wheelchair! Even if I lose my legs, I still have arms to wave!" Under the care of her family, Liu Yan strengthened her belief and decided never to give up her dream of dancing.
After a magnificent and fierce struggle, Liu Yan finally officially announced his return to the stage in March 2009. Her dedication to the art of dance earned her the title of "Most Loved Dancer", which was presented by the famous director Zhang Yimou and singer Song Zuying.
Since then, although he can only shuttle back and forth on the stage with the help of a wheelchair, Liu Yan still devotes himself to his dance career. She co-founded a non-profit organization with her team dedicated to helping underprivileged students who are unable to realize their dance dreams due to family financial difficulties.
Every time he sees the bright smiles of the children who have received assistance on the stage, Liu Yan's heart will also be filled with a warm current of gratification.
However, devoting herself to public welfare is only the tip of the iceberg of Liu Yan's love for the field of dance! Deep down, she is full of yearning to take root in the world of dance in a deeper academic theory.
Therefore, at this important moment in 2010, Liu Yan firmly decided to return to school, and resolutely applied for a doctoral degree in the dance department of the Chinese Academy of Arts, a top university in the mainland.
When he first entered the campus, in the face of everyone's curious and slightly questioning eyes, Liu Yan did not flinch. With great tenacity and perseverance, she has proved her worth with practical actions.
Her diligence and perseverance have moved everyone.
In campus life, whether listening to professors in class or consulting literature in the library, Liu Yan always sits in his wheelchair and concentrates on learning.
Whenever there is an opportunity to observe or exchange dance art with her classmates, she always rushes to the scene as soon as possible, humbly asks for advice, and works tirelessly.
Even though she was physically exhausted, she only took a short break and returned to her studies. Her dedication and persistence are impressive.
Despite the restrictions on movement, Liu Yan's love for dance has never wavered. She dances in a wheelchair, more moving than many healthy dancers.
With the encouragement of teachers and students and his unremitting efforts, Liu Yan finally successfully completed his doctoral studies in 2013. After graduation, her alma mater, the Chinese Academy of Arts, did not hesitate to extend an olive branch to her and invited her to join the school to impart her rich stage experience and profound theoretical knowledge to the young students.
When Liu Yan stepped into the campus again and saw those familiar flowers and trees, tears couldn't help but welled up in his eyes.
Since then, Liu Yan has regarded the stage and the podium as equally important. While delving into dance theory, she also actively explores the possibilities of sign language dance and its future development direction.
It is particularly worth mentioning that during the 2020 new crown pneumonia epidemic, she carefully planned and choreographed a sign language dance called "Hand and Protection" to express her most sincere gratitude and respect to those brave and fearless anti-epidemic heroes.
After years of hard work and painstaking research, Liu Yan finally ushered in a major breakthrough in his academic career in September 2021 - a monograph entitled "The Impression of Hands, the Relationship between Handprints and Chinese Classical Hand Dance" was officially published.
The publication of this monograph marks Liu Yan's outstanding achievements in the field of dance, and also injects new vitality into the development of dance education in mainland China.
This work is not only the fruit of Liu Yan's several decades of theoretical exploration, but also a powerful proof of her incomparable courage and unswerving perseverance in reshaping her own life! Liu Yan held this light academic monograph in his hand, and his eyes flashed with joy from time to time, but from time to time there was a faint melancholy.
She gently flipped through each page of words full of wisdom and sweat, and her heart swelled with endless emotion, this book contains her ardent pursuit of the art of dance, from a youthful dancer, to a desperate moment of life upheaval, and then to rekindle her dream of dance with a strong will, her life path can be described as magnificent and difficult.
Today, the wheelchair-bound dancer has become a leader in the industry, and is revered as a pioneer and leader in the study of sign language dance theory.
In her academic monographs, we can also deeply feel her love and dedication to dance.
Tears welled up in Liu Yan's eyes again, and she recalled that dark night many years ago, when she lay on the hospital bed, staring at the bright bird's nest outside the window, the hope of life seemed unattainable.
Now, however, she has returned to the stage where she once dreamed of with a new attitude, which is undoubtedly the greatest compliment to her perseverance.
From a dancer to a scholar, from a girl with dreams to a pioneer, Liu Yan's life journey is full of ups and downs, but it is also unique and exciting.
She reinvented herself with extraordinary courage and tenacity, and interpreted the eternal charm of dance art with practical actionsToday, her flower of life has bloomed in another sky, and the fragrance of time is still leisurely drifting.