Arts     

Dancer Liu Yan honored for life after injury

chinadaily.com.cn, October 21, 2016

• One of China's leading classical dancers, Liu Yan, received the Tara award at the annual Life Goes On gala in Vienna on Oct 15. Liu injured her vertebrae severely during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

  Dancer Liu Yan. [Photo provided to China Daily]

  
  
  

  The 34-year-old had to bid farewell to the stage and adjust to life in a wheelchair after the injury, which left her paralyzed below the waist. She is the first Chinese to win the Tara award.

  The charity gala, which was initiated by Olympic athlete Christian Rijavec in 2008, aims at honoring people "who, dealt with a stroke of fate, nevertheless cope with their lives and even perform extraordinary accomplishments".

  In 2014, Liu teamed up with French choreographer Kilina Cremona and took the stage again in The Red Thread (Le Fil Rouge). The musical and choreographic work, featuring Liu, Chinese dancer Chen Maoyuan and French dancer Sophie Jegou, premiered in Beijing during the 2014 Croisements Festival, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France.

  A dancer who began performing classical Chinese dance at the age of 9, Liu also has published a book, Dance of Hands, about her research on the hand gestures of classical Chinese dance.

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