Check out this video for a brilliant dance performance by two young dancers with disabilities who share their stories through their poignant body language about overcoming life’s challenges and enjoying the happiness of love.

At the age of 19, Ma Li a beautiful girl with a promising career in ballet lost her right arm in a car accident in 1996. Having experienced this accident, her boyfriend at the time also left her which led to a failed suicide attempt. With the love and support of her parents she found her will to go on. In 2001, she was invited to participate at the 5^th national special performing art competition for handicaps in China and won the gold medal. That success gave her hope to return to her beloved stage.

In September 2005, she ran into a 21-year-old young man (Zhai, Xiaowei). He had lost his left leg at the age of 4 when he climbed onto a tractor and fell off. At the time that she met him, he was being trained to be a cyclist for the China National Special Olympics and had never danced before. He initially didn’t understand how he could “dance,” so Li invited him to see her performing “Hand in Hand” with another male actor. He felt that he saw a perfect soul dancing on the stage and agreed to give it a try.

By April of 2007 they were one of the finalists among 7000 competitors in the 4th CCTV national dance competition held in 2007, in China. It is the first time dancers with disabilities ever entered the competition. With their dance “Hand in Hand”, they won the Silver medal with the 99.17 high score and not to mention the highest audience popular votes. They became an instant national hit.

Enjoy….