Do you have to go to the Bird's Nest to rehearse at 5pm tomorrow?
With 20 days to go before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Liu Yan still doesn't know that he is completely paralyzed. Nervously, he asked his companions and friends.
After a long period of unconsciousness, when she fell off the high stage, her first concern when she woke up was not her condition, but whether she could continue to perform on stage.
The Beijing Olympics is a grand event that every Chinese is proud of, and it is also a firm belief in Liu Yan's heart. However, when the lights were brilliant and people were cheering in front of the TV, Liu Yan was paralyzed on the hospital bed, feeling gloomy.
As the chief director, Zhang Yimou once praised Liu Yan's sacrifice like this: "She is a real hero!."”
Liu Yan was born in 1982, her hometown is Hohhot, her family conditions are superior, and her parents have decent jobs, so that she can enjoy a worry-free life since she was a child.
Liu Yan's parents both had higher education, so they had high expectations for her. Since she was a child, they have always had high hopes for her to bring glory to the family.
Since learning the language, Liu Yan has become interested in dance, she often sings and dances with **, so when she was three years old, her parents sent her to a famous local dance training class.
At first, her parents only wanted her to pursue her artistic interests, and did not expect her to achieve brilliant achievements in the field of dance, but they valued her more for her to study hard and have a stable job in the future.
Parents may be surprised that Liu Yan not only showed a strong interest in dance, but also showed a very high talent for dance.
All the teachers agreed: "Liu Yan is the most gifted of the students she has taught." ”
Liu Yan, who was only 9 years old, began to dance solo on the grand stage, stood out, and successfully advanced to the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe, becoming the best among hundreds of contestants.
She was then the focus of her training, actively participating in various activities and receiving experience from her seniors in the group, who all saw her as a pillar for the future of the team.
A year later, Liu Yan was admitted to the High School Affiliated to Beijing Dance Academy, and his reputation became even greater. As a result, he got a nickname at such a young age - "Liu Yijiao".
Although it doesn't sound very likable, and even a bit like a boy, it undoubtedly proves that Liu Yan is excellent.
However, the Beijing Dance Academy is full of talents, and Liu Yan has always been highly sought after, so she has never let her guard down, but has studied harder in order to present the most perfect dance.
As she grew older, she began to come into contact with more dancers that she couldn't match, such as Tang Shiyi and Wang Yabin, who made her feel unmatched.
In the competitions of that period, Liu Yan always either lost to this person or that person, and was often in the second place, which made her feel very aggrieved.
However, in 2004, Liu Yan stood out in the National Dance Competition hosted by CCTV with a stunning piece of "Rouge Buckle", and finally won the gold medal, ushering in the peak moment of his career.
Liu Yan's yearning to become a dance artist has become even stronger because of the cognizable accolades he has won. She continues to improve her dancing skills every day, especially in classical dance, which is beyond the reach of many people.
Slowly, the person who was once called "Liu Yileg" has turned into the envied "classical dance queen", and the CCTV Spring Festival Gala will naturally not miss such an excellent dancer.
In 2006, Liu Yan performed with Yang Liping and Tan Yuanyuan, who have become dance artists, in "Three Friends of the Cold Year".
Liu Yan's first Spring Festival Gala performance was loved by hundreds of millions of viewers, and his popularity soared. However, once you become famous, you will inevitably get into trouble.
Back then, Liu Yan and Lang Kun, the director of the Spring Festival Gala, were rumored to have an affair, and the intimate interaction between the two spread quickly on the Internet.
At that time, Lang Kun was not single like Liu Yan, but was married and had children, so the relationship between him and Liu Yan was called "marital cheating", which was not simply ambiguous.
However, both of them chose to remain silent and let the ** spread.
Just when everyone mistakenly thought that this was just a "misunderstanding", Lang Kun and his wife Ma Yanli publicly announced that their marriage had ended.
When talking about the reason for the divorce, although Ma Yanli did not directly mention Liu Yan's involvement, she admitted the existence of a third party.
The negative reports of Liu Yan's "seducing Lang Kun" were all over the world for a while, which had a huge impact on Liu Yan's image, and she often hid alone in the house and secretly cried.
Regarding the news of Lang Kun and Liu Yan's "derailment", in fact, there have always been only rumors, and there is no conclusive evidence to support them.
Therefore, many people believe that Liu Yan is not cheating, but has been deliberately hyped, and Ma Yanli may be an excuse when seeking a divorce to obtain more property.
There has been no clear conclusion on this matter, and as time has passed, attention has faded. After Liu Yan came out of the psychological haze, he continued to show his talent in the dance world.
Liu Yan has won many awards in various dance competitions, and her dancing posture has become more and more beautiful, so she has received many international invitations, and her achievements have become more and more dazzling.
It is important to note that Liu Yan does not only focus on performing her own dances, but also actively proposes to improve existing dance moves.
During the rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala that year, after noticing that something was wrong, she directly applied to the director to suspend the rehearsal.
Under Liu Yan's analysis, the director felt that this group dance was like a "group of demons dancing", so he asked Liu Yan if he could help make changes.
Liu Yan then tweaked some simple dance moves, and unexpectedly, just a few small changes made the whole dance performance look organized.
Liu Yan began learning martial arts at the age of 3 and continued until he was 26 years old. In the process, she experienced various challenges and difficulties, but she successfully overcame them and received many honors.
These achievements are inextricably linked to her efforts.
Her outstanding performance in the field of dance attracted the favor of many directors, but she turned down all invitations, with the exception of director Zhang Yimou. However, she did not participate in the theater, but in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Zhang Yimou was appointed chief director in 2007 and participated in the planning of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Zhang Yimou rejected several plans in the program showing the Silk Road, and finally decided to use soft dance to show the softness of the word "silk".
The lead dancer at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games must be the best in the dance world, and should not be too old to show the vigor and vitality of the country.
Zhang Yimou was once troubled by the technical problems of the young actor, but when he got into trouble, someone recommended Liu Yan to him and showed him a video of Liu Yan's previous dances. This made Zhang Yimou see hope.
After browsing a few **, Zhang Yimou immediately made a decision: "Just choose her." ”
Liu Yan soon received a call from Zhang Yimou in person, inviting her to be the lead dancer at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
When he received the invitation to the Olympic Games, Liu Yan's heart was surging. She realized that this was a great honor for her, and it might not be surpass it for the rest of her life.
Therefore, she accepted Zhang Yimou's invitation without hesitation. This is a rare opportunity for her.
In order to show the most perfect performance and show the spirit of a great country, Liu Yan repeatedly practiced the same dance every day.
Liu Yan has practiced a staggering 500 times, not including the number of rehearsals with her colleagues, which shows the importance she attaches to this dance.
Liu Yan's biggest belief at that time was to be able to represent the country in "Silk Road" at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Liu Yan devoted herself to "Silk Road", day after day, night after night, including the director team, they were very satisfied with her performance, and Zhang Yimou was no exception.
Everyone is looking forward to Liu Yan showing his brilliance at the opening ceremony.
With 20 days to go before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Liu Yan took the stage again and began rehearsals with everyone.
Liu Yan's role on the Dunhuang stage is that of the "Flying Goddess", and one of her performances involves jumping from the platform to the float.
Although everything had been in order, when it came to the part of the "Jumping Float", the float was a second earlier than expected.
Liu Yan had not yet stood firmly on the float, and was adjusting his dancing posture, when suddenly the car shook, and his body fell backwards.
Liu Yan fell to the ground defenselessly, and the float was three meters high.
There were tens of thousands of people at the rehearsal site, and it was so quiet that even the sound of falling needles could be heard in an instant, everyone was stunned, and the medical staff immediately rushed to the field and carried Liu Yan into the ambulance.
Liu Yan was in a coma for a long time, slowly waking up in the hospital bed, and the first thing he said was: "Do you want to go to the Bird's Nest to rehearse at 5 pm tomorrow?"”
She mistakenly thought that she had only suffered a minor injury and could still perform on stage, but in reality, her twelfth thoracic vertebra was severely misaligned and her nerves were greatly damaged.
When he heard the doctor say the words "high paraplegia", Liu Yan seemed to have been struck by a thunderbolt and couldn't calm down for a long time.
After working hard for so long and practicing with all my strength every day, can we only reap such results?Why does fate always play such a trick on people?
Liu Yan originally had a firm belief in his heart, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his legs, burning like fire, and lost consciousness at the same time.
The daughter's tears could not be hidden, and although the parents were calm, they could not hide the sadness in their hearts.
Zhang Yimou visited Liu Yan in the hospital many times afterwards, but he had almost nothing to say except comfort. He knows better than anyone the importance of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Liu Yan can't go back, he must accept it.
In the end, Zhang Yimou decided to let "B corner" Yin Shuo be the lead dancer of "Silk".
Although Yin Shuo is not the culprit, this glory should have belonged to Liu Yan, she is the high-profile "A corner", but fate unexpectedly took everything away from Liu Yan.
Liu Yan would cry bitterly late at night after that, but during the day, he actively carried out ** training under the guidance of doctors.
She has never given up the struggle for life, since she completely got rid of the "paralysis" predicament, she accepted the wheelchair with a smile on her face, carefully dressed herself, and began to actively participate in public welfare projects.
She founded a ** club to help more "special dancers" who suffered accidents like her.
She can't dance like most people, so she chose to pursue a graduate degree in dance, hoping to use her learning results to guide more juniors who have dreams of dancing.
Liu Yan didn't dance for a whole year, and even completed a subtle dance in a wheelchair, which happened in 2009.
Liu Yan named the dance "The Deepest Night, the Brightest Light", which has far-reaching meanings.
In the hospital bed, Liu Yan spent the "deepest night" of her life, she felt helpless, hesitant, and even doubted herself, but these could not shake her firm belief in dance.
In 2016, she was awarded the Tara Prize in Vienna, which recognises every winner who has fought with perseverance against fate.
After experiencing endless darkness, Liu Yan was finally reborn, as the name of her dance work suggests, living as the "brightest light", forever in a wheelchair.
We can never predict what tomorrow and the unexpected will bring us, but our resistance and perseverance to fate will be a manifestation of our determination to live our true selves.
We should cheer for Liu Yan's transformation, and we should learn from her.
Everyone will experience various challenges in the gears of fate, but we cannot give up easily, and the only way out is to overcome these challenges.
Liu Yan