Behind the Opening Ceremony, a Paralyzing Fall

August 15, 2008

By DAVID BARBOZA
BEIJING — A talented, 26-year-old Chinese dancer was seriously injured during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games just 12 days before the show, and faces the prospect of being paralyzed for the rest of her life.

Liu Yan, considered one of the country’s top classical Chinese dancers, was preparing the performance of a lifetime: the only solo dance in a four-hour spectacular that was expected to be seen by a global audience of more than one billion people.

But on July 27, during an evening rehearsal at Beijing’s National Stadium, the so-called Bird’s Nest, she leaped toward a platform that malfunctioned and plunged about 10 feet into a shaft, landing on her back, according to family members.

She was rushed to a local military hospital and underwent six hours of surgery but suffers from nerve and spinal damage.

Her head was not badly injured, and she can move her arms. But she has no feeling below her chest, she said in a hospital bed interview. She cannot move her lower body, including her legs.

Doctors have told her family it is unlikely she will ever walk again.

During an interview in her hospital room on Wednesday, Liu was teary-eyed and said she was in disbelief about the accident.

“I never imagined I could suffer such a tragedy,” she said.

The organizers of the opening ceremony initially asked witnesses and friends not to disclose the accident ahead of the Olympic Games on Aug. 8, according to people who have visited Liu in the hospital.

But earlier this week, after inquiries from several newspapers, members of the Beijing Olympic Committee visited Liu and announced that they would soon hold a news conference.

For the most part, the Chinese state-run news media have not reported the accident, although Peoples Daily, the Communist Party’s official organ, mentioned it in a small article on Tuesday.

Zhang Yimou, the show’s artistic director and one of the country’s leading film directors, expressed deep sadness following a visit with Liu’s on Monday.

“I feel sorry for Liu Yan, my heart is full of regrets,” he said in an interview. “I’m deeply sorry. Liu Yan is a heroine. She sacrificed a lot for the Olympics, for me, for the opening ceremony.”

In an earlier interview with the Chinese media, after his artistic direction of the opening ceremony won high praise from around the world, Zhang said he was pleased with the show but added that there were some serious problems in rehearsals for a show that involved more than 15,000 performers.

“I regret many things, many details of this performance, many things I could have done better,” he said. “For example, there are performers who were injured. I blame myself for that. It might well have been avoided if I had given more detailed instructions.”

Following the accident, Liu’s parents flew to Beijing from their home in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region. Her husband and friends were seeking a specialist to help determine whether she can regain her ability to walk.

Liu, a graduate of the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy, was widely considered one of the country’s leading classical dancers. Dance experts call her movements incredibly fluid, and say her beauty radiates on the stage. Over the years, some of her performances have also been popular on YouTube.

She has won most of the nation’s top dance and drama awards, including the Lotus Cup.

She also performed last year at the country’s New Year’s Eve Gala, which is televised nationally every year and draws some of the country’s most famous singers, dancers and actors.

Liu, who recently married, is the only child of a judge and a doctor and grew up in northern China. She entered the middle school of the Beijing Dance Academy at age 11.

Her planned performance in the opening ceremony, The Silk Road, was the only solo dance in a show that was rich in traditional imagery and synchronized performances. Another dancer took her place.

Liu said it was a dream that she could be chosen for such a role. But Wednesday, she said she was hoping for a miracle, so that she might some day walk again.

“I hope one day I can just stand up like a normal person,” she said wiping away tears.

Chen Yang contributed research.