When dance meets theater, a form called physical theater is created.

Relatively new to China's theatergoers, it has a history of more than two decades in Europe where many famous companies specialize in the form, such as the UK-based DV8 Physical Theater.

Students at China Central Academy of Drama are now exploding the boundaries of contemporary dance and the result is a physical theater production Spider's Web, which is performed to the public at the Experimental Theater inside the academy from Thursday to Sunday.

The show is set in a highly developed modern city where people find themselves confused and lost amid the advanced civilization. For them, lifestyles and the relentless cycle of work are a spider's web from which they try in vain to escape.

Social problems and psychological illnesses emerge. The environment is destroyed -- nature's punishment -- trust between friends disappears, disconnectedness to one's roots...

All the performers are sophomore students of the Department of Performing, while the crew are the seniors from the Department of Art Management.

The Japanese-based choreographers Fan Lu, Liu Lina and some artists from the School of Art at the University of Japan have helped produce the first physical theater production.

The director of the Western Dance Studio at his university, Fan returned to China to do some research on physical theater in Beijing at the end of 2004. After a talk with professors at the Central Academy of Drama, he began working with the students on the "Spider's Web" in February.

"The physical theater is a new form in Asia. There are some productions in Japan and South Korea but few achieved great success," said Fan.

"What's more, I am a choreographer rather than a theater director and it was the first time I have produced physical theater, so I was not very confident in the beginning."

But the great interest on the part of the students in combining dance and theater and the talent they displayed during rehearsals, gave him the confidence to continue the project.

"They have all devoted their passion and talents to the production and I hope the audience will enjoy a special theater experience. Anyway, both dance and theater are ways to express a certain feeling to audiences. If they catch what we want to express, or if they get their own interpretation of a show, we achieve our purpose. Dance or theater, or physical theater are only different approaches."

(China Daily April 8, 2005)