Liu Yan (dancer)

Liu had a passion for classical Chinese dance during her childhood.[2] She started dancing at the age of nine.[6] When she was ten years old, Liu gained admission to the Beijing Dance Academy middle school.[2] In 1993,[7] when she was eleven years old,[8] she entered the Beijing Dance Academy middle school.

Liu enrolled at the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of eighteen.[2][6] She studied professional dancing with a major in classical Chinese dance.[7] She graduated in 2003.[4][9]

Liu has performed in the 2007 CCTV New Year's Gala, alongside some of China's most famous people.[8] She has also won some of the nation's most prestigious awards for dance and drama.[8]

Liu was chosen to be the lead dancer in the "Silk Road" segment at the Beijing 2008 Olympics opening ceremony.[5][8] On 27 July, twelve days before the actual performance,[8] she fell from a malfunctioning moving platform during an evening rehearsal at the Beijing National Stadium.[8][10] She was rushed to a local military hospital where she underwent six hours of surgery.[8] The accident resulted in nerve and spinal damage, which paralyzed her lower body.[8]

In March 2010, Liu established the Liu Yan Arts Special Fund to help children living in poverty, orphans, and migrant workers' children through arts education.[9] Since March 2010,[6] she has been giving classes at the Beijing Dance Academy.[5][6] As reported in 2012, she pursued a doctorate degree in dance theory at the Beijing Dance Academy.[11] As a professor at the Beijing Dance Academy, she is also devoted to dance movement therapy.[4]

In 2016, Liu published a book titled Dance with Hands: Research of the Hand Dance in Chinese Classical Dances, detailing her research about hand gestures in classical Chinese dance.[12]

On 18 June 2021, Liu staged her directorial debut with the dance drama Jing Yan at the Century Theater in Beijing.[4] This is the first dance drama produced by the dance studio that Liu launched in 2019.[4]