De-Napoli Clarke had a promising career as a professional dancer and choreographer ahead of him when a vicious assault left him with a broken neck.

"Iwas out with my friend in a club just enjoying the dancefloor, " he says. "One minute I was dancing, the next thing I had a bottle in my face and was falling backwards. My friend didn't see the assault and when he turned round he thought I was dancing - he was expecting me to do a flip and be back on my feet!

When I just lay there he realised something was wrong."

De-Napoli was rushed to hospital and told he had a broken neck. "My consultant came to talk to me and I thought, 'This is it, I'm paralysed.' But he said he was astounded that I wasn't paralysed. I closed my eyes and went to sleep then when I came round I said to him, 'Did I hear you right?' Thankfully, I did."

That was eight years ago. It could have been the end of De-Napoli's dance career but he went on to make a remarkable recovery. "I was even choreographing shows from my hospital bed!" he says. "When I left hospital I had to wear a 'halo traction'; they screwed it into my head which was agonising, and I was doing choreography with it on."

De-Napoli used his experiences as inspiration for a new dance show, The Dancical. Performed by Leedsbased RJC Dance, it's an autobiographical show celebrating defining moments in his life, both joyful and moving. The promotional material describes it as "the story of a man who lived for dance and danced to live" - and that's exactly what it is.

"The assault is interpreted through dance, " says De-Napoli. "We also use dance and movement to represent the halo traction but I'm planning to develop the show, with some kind of contraption that a dancer can wear on their head."

A company of six dancers perform different dance styles to a fusion of music performed by Leeds musicians Kabin Fever. There's reggae, jazz, capoeira, naptech and even martial arts.

"My older brother Sylvan was into martial arts and I was his 'wooden dummy' as a kid, " says De-Napoli.

"Now I'm a black belt and instructor in Fong Tien, a form of martial arts Sylvan developed. I always saw the dance potential in martial arts, if you think of films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it has a graceful, balletic quality. Jackie Chan has been choreographing it in a comedy way in films for years but I haven't seen it done on stage before.

"We use ropes, balls and hoops in the show, it's a great challenge combining different styles of dance and music, but dancers like a challenge.

"It's an explosion of physical and rhythmical dance moves. I've worked with the show Stomp and some of the moves have been likened to that but I was doing it way before Stomp. I was always being told off at school for using pencils and rulers to create rhythms, I'd just grab whatever was around me."

Another strand of De-Napoli's life reflected in the show is football. He turned down a career as a professional footballer to become a dancer.

"I was a centre forward and liked going in goal too because I liked to jump - that's the dancer in me!" he laughs.

"I loved the game and the teamwork but I couldn't care less whether we won or lost. I was only interested in playing it - the choreography of the game.

"I was playing for Leeds under-18s and had trials for Leeds United but I was also at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and dance was what I really loved. After 90 minutes of football I still had loads of energy, I was running round like a mad thing, but dance used up all my energy.

When I was 17 a football talent scout from Holland asked me to sign up with him, I knew then I had to make a choice.

"I can't stand the play-acting in football, overpaid players falling to the ground at the slightest tap. Why don't they just get back to the game and stop trying it on? I'd rather watch rugby - when those guys fall to the ground you know they've really hurt themselves!"

De-Napoli did some soul-searching when devising the show. "It's split into six sections, each one reflects a part of my life. I wasn't going to be in it at first but then I realised I needed to be, because they're my experiences.

"It's constantly evolving, I video every performance and later in the year we'll be putting on a bigger version of it. We've taken the show around the county and had postshow discussions with audiences.

The feedback has been fantastic."

The cast is made up of four professionals and two apprentices. RJC Dance provides training for young dancers, giving them chance to choreograph works and dance in touring productions.

The Dancical is at the West Yorkshire Playhouse from April 6-8.

For more details call (0113) 213 7700.