As Liu Yan rehearsed her moves on the stage at Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium one evening last July, she had no idea that it would be the last time she would ever dance.
As China's most acclaimed classical dancer, she had been given a coveted six minute slot to perform during the opening ceremony for China's Olympics. The only solo dance in the entire show, it was meant to be the highlight of her short, but spectacular career, a chance to display her talent to a worldwide audience of billions.
But on the night of the ceremony itself, Ms Liu, 26, was lying in a hospital bed, paralysed below the waist after a fall caused by a mistake made by the stagehands during the rehearsal, 12 days earlier. And as she faced up to the knowledge that she would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, the story of her tragedy was being hushed up by government officials, who feared it would take the shine off a Games designed to celebrate China's ascent to superpower status.
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