He was the runner up twice on BBC 1 show Strictly Come Dancing, but now professional Latin dancer Pasha Kovalev will Cha-Cha-Cha on stage in the south.
And the Russian-born television star is hoping to bring a gypsy-edge to the show, as he describes that as the lifestyle he is living, travelling the globe performing with his suitcases in hand.
Despite being knocked off the winner’s spot on Strictly with actress Chelsee Healey in 2011 and again in last year’s series with Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh, Pasha has great memories of dancing with each celebrity.
Katya Virshila and Pasha Kovalev
“Chelsee, she was quite a talented young lady,” said 33-year-old Pasha. “She was so busy with her own day job. I would come and try to squeeze a couple of hours with her. I don’t know how she managed to do that.
“One of my favourite dances from the previous season with Chelsee was when I was dressed as Shrek and she was a princess. The concept and the costumes were so much for us to do.
“With Kimberley this time around we had so many amazing dances. The tango and Cha-Cha, was quite memorable. I made her walk through the fire and it was quite a task because of the timing of her walking in this flaming frame. She was quite cool about everything.”
While Pasha has aimed both years to be crowned the winner, to him it is more important to create performances for the audience to feel involved in.
“We have a saying in Russia that all soldiers want to be generals or else what’s the point in being here,” he said.
“So of course I want to be in the final and be able to lift the trophy but what I want more than that is to create beautiful dances for people and hopefully I’m succeeding in that.”
Born in Moscow, he started dancing aged eight and has since moved to New York, Las Vegas, been in Broadway and on British and American television.
He hopes to be invited back to the BBC hit show, but for now will be bringing Strictly to its fans with dancing partner Katya Virshila for their second tour with a Hollywood to ballroom theme.
It will be complete with fantastic costumes, songs from famous Hollywood movies and the pair are working on an additional routine with a gypsy-style. It will reflect Pasha’s lifestyle of travelling from place to place, living out of suitcases, staying in hotels, while meeting a variety of people and cultures.
He said: “Because I’ve been a gypsy – not really, but living out of suit cases – we’re trying to bring the gypsy dancing to the theatres.
“People have a lot of negative thoughts towards gypsies, especially in the UK. I’m more of a dancing gypsy wandering around with my suitcases and dancing in theatres near you!
“I love this experience of me travelling the country and finally seeing it for myself and see people who love Strictly and dancing in general.
“I love live audience. You need that relationship. All the dancing we do is directed towards making people feel better. As I’m dancing in theatre I can instantly feel what I’m doing and I can see and feel people’s energy. You feed off of that.”
Pasha and Katya’s tour will be at The Kings Theatre in Southsea on Thursday (April 4), with special guest dancers Lindsey Muckle and Ryan Hammond and will be hosted by Mike Newman Jnr. They will have a question and answer session, as well as a chance for some lucky audience members to learn the moves on stage.
Pasha said: “Sometimes we invite some brave people on stage. Some people do bring their dance shoes which is very inspiring because they’ve come ready.
“I’m very grateful to the shows like Strictly Come Dancing because it helps dancing to be more popular out there because it’s on TV and it’s more accessible.
“People realise if a celebrity can do it and prove themselves getting better, people will say ‘yes if they can do it, I can do it’. It’s great for me to see that.”