Zuo, who was born in Cangzhou, Hebei province, says he started doing acrobatics at the age of 5. And when he was 15, Zuo won the Golden Clown award in the children's group.

Speaking about his move into comedy, Zuo, who also received two years of training at the Beijing Film Academy before acting in TV dramas, says: "It's an art. It's harder to make people laugh than to make people cry."

Zhang Zhenlei, who plays the teacher in Tai Chi, is, however, not new to comedy.

Zhang, 36, a veteran dancer and comic, who has been performing with Yu's company for seven years, has also starred in the two films directed by Deng.

Speaking about the play, he says: "We spent two months in Seoul early this year. And for eight to 10 hours each day, we received training in dancing and acting.

"Unlike other comedies I've acted in, Tai Chi is all about physical moves, which is very challenging. And it depends on eye contact and body language instead of dialogue to make the audience laugh."