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]
