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In February 2022, the flame of the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games was warmly relayed in Yanqing County, Zhangjiakou. When we saw Liu Yan wearing a heavy cold-proof suit, a bright red scarf, and a blazing torch in her hand running through the snow, all the audience present couldn't help but be deeply impressed by her tenacity and unyielding willpower!
Liu Yan's face was filled with an incomparably firm smile, and his eyes were full of hope. She held the blazing torch tightly, as if it were the guiding light of her life, illuminating her way forward.
Although she lost sensation in her legs, she was able to walk in a wheelchair, sprinting forward in great strides, and interpreting the profound philosophy of "the end of the song does not end, and the road stretches under the feet" with practical actions.
As we gaze at her smiling face, who could have imagined that 15 years ago, this brilliant dancer had experienced the most brutal blow of his life? It was that unfortunate accident that plunged her into endless darkness, but she finally found her dream again and bravely embarked on a new journey in life.
Born in 1982, Liu Yan has been dancing since he was three years old. She is gifted and has an endless love for dance. During her studies at the Beijing Dance Academy, she worked hard and tirelessly, and won numerous honors with her extraordinary perseverance and talent.
However, in 2008, when her career was in full swing and her life was at its peak, a ruthless accident completely turned her fate upside down. Many years ago, Liu Yan, a girl with outstanding talent, began her dance dream journey at the age of three.
Every morning, she is always the first child to walk into the rehearsal room, arrange her dance clothes and shoes, and look forward to the start of the dance class.
Under the strict requirements of the teachers, Liu Yan learned patience and perseverance. She trains hard every day and devotes herself to the world of dance. Sometimes, she repeats a movement hundreds of times until it is perfectly presented.
In front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the classroom, she has always left her hard work and witnessed her unremitting pursuit of her dreams.
After a lot of hardships, finally in the 2003 National "Lotus Cup" Dance Competition, Liu Yan won the honor of attention with her unique and innovative dance work "Rouge Buckle". When she wore a colorful red cheongsam and danced to the melodious music, the audience burst into warm applause, and people were deeply attracted by her light and feminine posture and exquisite dancing skills.
Her dance moves are flexible and varied, like an elegant fairy jumping happily, and each movement vividly and accurately interprets the essence of classical Chinese dance. At this moment, she seems to be a dancer who has traveled through time and space, telling those ancient and mysterious stories through dance.
The audience fell into a frenzy, applause and cheers came one after another, and the judges were also impressed by her professionalism and outstanding talent, and gave high praise. This heavy award is undoubtedly the best reward for Liu Yan's unremitting efforts over the years.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, in 2006, Liu Yan was fortunate to stand on the stage of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, and performed "Three Friends of the Cold Year" with Yang Liping, who enjoys the reputation of "Peacock Fairy", and Tan Yuanyuan, who is known as the "Ballet Queen".
She plays the role of "plum blossom" in the play, wearing a red long skirt, dancing in the moonlight, like a plum blossom standing proudly on the branches, exuding an elegant and refined temperament.
During the performance, Liu Yan devoted herself to the role, and her every gesture, eyes, and posture revealed the noble qualities of Meihua's perseverance and courage in the face of difficulties.
Her exquisite leg control skills made her dance more graceful and elegant, and won the warm applause of the audience, and the judges praised her for "legs like dragons and snakes, and walks like the wind", and since then, everyone has affectionately called her "Liu Yijiao".
However, on July 27, 2008, the sky in Beijing was sunny and peaceful. It was supposed to be an ordinary day for the staff who were rehearsing at the Bird's Nest. However, on this very day, a sudden disaster completely changed the fate of a young girl.
On that day, Liu Yan was going all out to prepare for the solo dance "Silk Road" for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. As usual, she swayed on the 3-meter-high stage, her graceful posture like an elegant butterfly fluttering.
Liu Yan does her best to every move, lest there be the slightest mistake, and she looks forward to presenting the most perfect performance on the stage of her dreams.
At this moment, Liu Yan didn't foresee that in just the next moment, her fate was about to undergo an earth-shaking change! I only heard a loud "bang", and Liu Yan actually fell from the three-meter-high stage! It turned out that the load-bearing car under her feet moved a second earlier, causing her to lose her center of gravity, which caused her to fall from a height.
Zhang Yimou, a famous director who was a little far away from the scene, only heard this loud noise, and couldn't help but be frightened, and he immediately rushed forward to find out what happened? I saw Liu Yan collapse to the ground, motionless, although she muttered in a low voice that she hoped to participate in tomorrow's rehearsal, but soon after she fell into a coma and could no longer respond to anyone's shouts.
The situation was extremely critical, and the medical staff immediately lifted Liu Yan into the ambulance and sent him to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. After six hours of intense rescue, Liu Yan was finally out of danger, but what the doctor said next was like a sharp blade, ruthlessly cutting off all her aspirations and pursuits for the dance career.
The doctor announced to the people present that although Liu Yan had passed the dangerous period, she had as many as 12 spinal fractures, causing high paraplegia, and she would never be able to stand up and walk again! When this cruel reality was confirmed, Liu Yan seemed to have fallen into an endless abyss, and the dance career she once loved was wiped out overnight.
And director Zhang Yimou felt extremely remorseful, because Liu Yan was supposed to show his style at the grand opening ceremony, but now it has become an eternal pain and regret in his heart.
When Liu Yan woke up in a hospital bed, her mind went blank. She tried to open her eyes and saw her mother waiting at the bedside, her face full of exhaustion and worry.
Liu Yan tried to sit up and hug his mother, but found that his body had lost sensation from the waist down, and his feet could not move at all.
She suddenly felt extreme fear and asked her mother in a trembling voice, "Mom, what's wrong with me?" Why can't I feel my legs? Looking at her daughter's helpless eyes, Liu's mother's tears poured out like water bursting the embankment, she understood that Liu Yan's dream was completely shattered, but she really couldn't bear to tell her daughter this cruel truth, so she could only pretend to be strong and comforted: "Dear baby, don't be afraid, mom is here, you will definitely recover."
The sudden bad news made Liu Yan completely collapse! At that moment, she was told that she had become a high paraplegic. This cruel reality, like a mountain lying across her originally energetic life path, is unacceptable to her.
However, watching her daughter suffer and gradually collapse, Liu's mother, as a mother, strengthened her determination to rebuild her daughter's confidence. In October 2009, she did not hesitate to walk into Liu Yan's dance company and discuss with her old colleagues whether it was possible for Liu Yan to stand on the stage again.
Although Liu Yan was ready to leave the stage, when she saw those dance partners dancing on the stage, the love for dance in her heart was rekindled.
In order to stimulate her daughter's fighting spirit, Liu's mother decided to take her to the dance practice room to play her favorite dance music. Hearing this familiar melody, Liu Yan's body involuntarily shook slightly, although she had lost her legs, she was like a butterfly struggling to flap her wings, looking forward to soaring into the sky again.
With the company and encouragement of his mother, Liu Yan finally regained his love and dream of dance. In November 2009, she returned to the stage in a wheelchair for the first time and performed a shocking dance work with her dance partners, "The Deepest Night, the Brightest Light".
Although her legs could not move, her arms, upper body and eyes showed a dance that she had never seen before, and she proved to the world that she was persistent in dancing.
After experiencing the test of life and death, Liu Yan did not stand still, but pursued his dream more resolutely. In 2010, she got rid of the shadow of the past, and with an endless thirst for knowledge, she was successfully admitted to the master's degree of Beijing Dance Academy.
During her time at school, she devoted herself to the in-depth study of her hand dance movements. For her with a disability in both legs, hand movements will be at the heart of her new stage career.
Liu Yan devoted herself to her research almost without sleep or food, practicing over and over again in her quiet dance studio, pondering how to perfect this art form. It didn't take long for her to master the unique techniques and secrets of hand dance.
While focusing on her own growth, Liu Yan bravely devoted herself to the field of public welfare and charity, and is committed to fighting for the precious opportunity of dance education for disabled and poor children. She knows very well what kind of infatuated love the leader in the dance world used to be, and now, this affection has suffered a heavy blow, and she can't help but feel a lot of emotion.
Liu Yan hopes that through his tortuous journey and unremitting efforts, he will help more children realize their dance dreams and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and leaving endless regrets.
In order to better serve these children in need, in 2012, Liu Yan decided to set up a foundation, she personally taught dance knowledge and skills to children, and devoted herself to teaching and public welfare, shining on a new stage in a unique way.
In 2014, after successfully obtaining a master's degree in dance, Liu Yan finally got her wish and became a professional teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy, opening a new chapter in her life. Liu Yan passionately imparts professional knowledge and inspires each student with his own personal experience, so that they can deeply understand the unwavering dedication of artists to their dreams.
In 2016, Liu Yan was awarded the "Tara Award" for his outstanding contributions to public welfare and charity for a long time. When director Zhang Yimou personally handed over this supreme honor to her, the two artists looked at each other and smiled, and the pain and gloom of the past could no longer be seen in the smiles on each other's faces.
Liu Yan smiled with satisfaction and said: "Director, we are old friends, we don't have to be so restrained" These short eight words contain her incomparable love for life and art and a positive attitude, which touched everyone present.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it has come to April 2023, and Liu Yan's new dance drama "Blue Skirt" created with all his might will be grandly staged in the theater. This stage play, full of philosophical reflections, vividly reproduces the epic of the heroic struggle of the martyrs of the revolutionary era.
The audience was shocked by this visual and auditory feast, and applauded Liu Yan's persistent pursuit of art and indomitable spirit.
Whenever Liu Yan is seen with the confident smile she exudes in the interview, it is difficult for people to associate her with the person who fell into darkness and despair 15 years ago. Indeed, fate gave her a heavy blow, but she chose to overcome the difficulties with courage and tenacity, and finally found a new stage of her own and embarked on a new journey in life.
Looking back on Liu Yan's arduous journey, we have to sigh that her ups and downs in life are like a shocking inspirational blockbuster. He has devoted himself to the dance career since he was a child, immersed in the ocean of art, and has won unanimous praise inside and outside the industry through unremitting efforts and the pursuit of excellence, and is known as "Liu Yijiao"; However, with unforeseen circumstances and sudden disasters, she relied on her perseverance to rekindle the fire of dreams in her heart and once again appeared on the bright stage in a wheelchair; After bidding farewell to the stage, she successfully obtained a master's degree and is committed to passing on the concept of dance art to the younger generation.
Liu Yan's story profoundly reveals for us the true meaning of the wise saying that "the song ends, and the person does not end". Despite her physical disability, she tells us that the value of life is not only limited to health, but more importantly, to live a spiritual independence and inner strength.
It is this strong belief and optimistic attitude that has allowed her to get out of the difficult situation and shine on a new stage.
In fact, there are many "extraordinary" people like Liu Yan in this world, although they have encountered different degrees of disabilities in their lives, they still move forward bravely on the road of pursuing their dreams in their own unique way, exuding dazzling light.
For example, the actors, who were born deaf but were still able to feel the vibrations of music with their hearts, showed an unprecedented stage charm in the work "Guanyin with a Thousand Hands" with their pure and immaculate hearts.
Another example is the "one-legged dance king" Zhai Xiaowei, although he lost a leg, he relied on extraordinary perseverance to carefully hone a variety of difficult dance moves, and the dance posture was beautiful and smooth, which was amazing.
These individuals may be physically flawed, but their hearts are so pure and flawless, and their pursuit of dreams is so persistent and pure.
To sum up, Liu Yan and these disabled artists have shown us the preciousness and endless possibilities of life with their struggles. Their stories always remind us to meet life's challenges with an optimistic attitude, never give up even in the face of setbacks, and only by bravely moving forward can we finally reach the other side of success.
As long as you have a dream in your heart, you will definitely be able to find a broad road to your dream.