A poster of "Dance for Love"

Dance for Love (Aiwo Jiu Geiwo Tiaozhiwu), China's first musical in the form of a movie, will hit theaters on Aug 26, Chinese Valentine's Day.

The film is about a group of young men and their preparations for a musical adapted from the Chinese classic Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai).

Zhao Xu, a graduate of the music department of the Central Academy of Drama, leads the cast, which includes Qiu Siting, a dancer of the Bavarian State Ballet.

The film is directed by manager-turned-director Wen Shuo. He says he has chosen a cast of new actors, because he believes good musicals, such as Les Miserables, create stars, not rely on them.

Austrian music director Elmar Ottenthal has showered high praise on it, saying he is particularly appreciative of the show's combination of Western musical and traditional Chinese elements such as Peking Opera.

(China Daily August 25, 2009)