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.