Tag: Strictly Come Dancing

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Pasha Gets His Own Show!

 

With my move, I didn’t have time to keep up with it, but this season Pasha Kovalev was a professional dancer on the British TV show Strictly Come Dancing (which our Dancing With the Stars is modeled on). He danced with British celeb Chelsea Healey (photo above).

It’s just been announced that he and another pro dancer from that show, Katya Virshilas, will get their own tour this spring. They’ll be performing in various theaters in England. Local dancers will join them, but they’ll be the headliners. Hope it’ll eventually come to the U.S.

Makes me so happy to know that Pasha’s doing so well with his career. I wonder what Anya Garnis is up to these days. I don’t know of Virshilas. Any of my ballroom peeps familiar with her?

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Pasha Will Be a Pro Dancer on Britain’s STRICTLY COME DANCING

Pasha Kovalev is going to be a pro dancer on this season’s Strictly Come Dancing, the British version of our Dancing With the Stars. Apparently, he’s replacing an American dancer, Jared Murillo (whom I’ve never heard of), because Murillo, at 5’9″ is too short to partner most of this season’s taller ladies. Pasha’s only 5’10” but that seems to make all the difference. Go Pasha! Hmmm, wish I had access to British television…

(Photo above taken by me, when he and Anya first appeared in Burn the Floor on Broadway).

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MARTINA HINGIS AND MATTHEW CUTLER ON STRICTLY COME DANCING

 

Apropos of the currently underway U.S. Open, which is captivating the attentions of many New Yorkers right now, I thought I’d mention that Martina Hingis, former tennis champ, is a contestant on this upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing, the British (and original) version of our Dancing With the Stars.

She’ll be partnered by Matthew Cutler, that show’s last season pro winner and a former Blackpool champ. Here are a couple of videos of Cutler, in the first demonstrating a samba with his former pro partner Nicole Cutler, and the second some vintage clips (or at least they seem vintage now) of the Latin Blackpool championship from about 7 years ago. At various points you can spy 10-year-long reigning champs Bryan Watson and Carmen, as well as DWTS’s Karina Smirnoff and my love Slavik Kryklyvyy. At about the 2:40 mark, the camera focuses on them.

Kind of fun to watch these older comps. You can see how much Latin competition dancing has really changed just in the past several years (seems so much faster now, and costumes skimpier…)

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC beginning on September 18th.