Smiles triumph over adversity

For many people, memories of the Olympic Games in Beijing may have begun to fade - but for Liu Yan, the 2008 event changed her life.

Liu, 32, who was set to lead in the dance performance Silk Road at the opening ceremony of the Games, fell from a 3-meter-high malfunctioning platform during a rehearsal. The accident resulted in nerve and spinal damage, paralyzing her lower body and ruining her career as a classical Chinese dancer.

Six years later, she has returned to the stage, as lead dancer in The Red Thread. The modern dance piece featured as part of the ongoing Festival Croisements 2014 to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and France.

Following a national tour of The Red Thread that ended in May, she unveiled an exhibition of photographs in Beijing, seeking to highlight the smiles of children who took free dance lessons offered by her charity.

The exhibition, Angel's Smile, is Liu's tribute to the children, many of whom are either orphans or have hearing difficulties.

"Children are able to smile in the face of their adversity. Very few people actually know what they are really going through. This is the kind of spiritual power that I want to bring to everybody," Liu says.

This year, French luxury watchmaker and jeweler Piaget collaborated with Liu's charity to sponsor 162 children to take dance classes next year.

"Although she went through many hard times, she keeps on fighting. And we admire her for that," said Thomas Bouillonnec, managing director of Piaget China, at the exhibition's opening on June 5.

Two years after her injury, Liu set up a charity in her name to help disadvantaged children access art education, including free dance lessons.

During her mentoring of the children, she initially found them to be introverted and unable to execute with the confidence of young people with an "easier" childhood.

"They just couldn't. We didn't even start to move and were just standing, but within a few seconds, half of them started to look away," Liu says. "That sight will break your heart because you can sense their lack of confidence."

But six months of dance lessons changed all that, she adds, for the better. The children unconsciously smiled while looking at their teacher and waiting for their class to begin.

"When their bodies move, their hearts follow. Their smiles were more attractive to me than their dance moves. Every time I saw them smile, I cheered up. It was magical."

The smiles of her students drove her to launch an exhibition of photographs because she wanted to share her experiences with a wider audience.

Chen Mingsheng, the photographer of the exhibition, lived with the children for about a week to take the images. Chen says that before he met Liu's students, he wasn't sure how children would work as subjects.

But the outcome of his weeklong enterprise surprised him.

"They are so easy to please, even by something small. This was also a reminder to me that I should cherish what I have," Chen says.

In addition to running the charity, Liu was also able to find the time to study dance further.

She acquired a doctoral degree in dance theory in 2013, and now teaches at the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy, where she herself was trained.

She swims for an hour every morning to prepare for The Red Thread's tour of France in September. The piece, which concentrates on the upper body - especially the arms and hands - poses a huge challenge both physically and aesthetically to her as a classical dancer, she says.

"At one point during the rehearsal, I almost gave up. I didn't think I could do it," Liu says. "But at the same time, you always feel compelled to challenge yourself, which is also the message of the choreography. You encounter a difficulty and you start struggling with yourself. Once you go through it and do it, there will be another you, a better you."

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

Liu Yan poses with children from her charity dance class, Angel's Smile photographer Chen Mingsheng and Thomas Bouillonnec, managing director of Piaget China. Provided to China Daily

Though partially paralyzed, Liu is still active onstage, and uses her upper body to perform.