Liu Yan (dancer)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Liu.

Liu Yan is a classical Chinese dancer,^[2] choreographer,^[4] stage director,^[4] and professor at the Beijing Dance Academy.^[4] She has performed in many dance dramas and won many dance competitions in and outside China.^[5]

Liu Yan
刘岩 (Simplified) 劉岩 (Traditional)
Born	June 1982[1]
Nationality	Chinese
Citizenship	China
Alma mater	Beijing Dance Academy
Occupation	Dancer
Style	Classical
Parent(s)	Liu Xueming (father)[2] Wang Xinlian (mother)[3]
Website	blog.sina.com.cn/liuyan314[2]

Early life

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]

Career

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]