Kristina Rihanoff and Christopher Maloney bring dance journey to Crawley's Hawth

Kristina Rihanoff and Christopher Maloney team up in a new dance show that promises to transport audiences on a musical journey through time.
Kristina Rihanoff and Christopher Maloney. Picture by Lizzing IrvingKristina Rihanoff and Christopher Maloney. Picture by Lizzing Irving
Kristina Rihanoff and Christopher Maloney. Picture by Lizzing Irving

The pair became close friends during their time in Celebrity Big Brother.

And when Kristina needed a vocalist for a new live dance show, which she hopes will capture all her Strictly Come Dancing magic, Christopher was the first person she turned to.

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Dance to the Music heads to The Hawth, Crawley, on Friday, January 12, and the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing, on Friday, January 26, showcasing every genre of dance from the roaring ’20s to the present day.

Russian-born Kristina, a professional dancer and choreographer who spent eight years on Strictly, is the show’s creator.

“I came across here for Strictly, and I didn’t think the first year that this would become home. I didn’t know what the show would be like, but it is definitely home now. It is just great to be part of something that is loved by so many people, by every single person in the country pretty much. It is a massive show. It is also very big in the States.

“Every year there is a new cast. It brings in new people. You get your favourite celebrities, and you start wanting them to win. It is very special to be involved with.”

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She left to have her daughter: “For me, I just wanted to have time off to be at home and to look after my daughter and to be a mum, but everybody has to work. Everybody has got ambitions.”

And Dance to the Music is the result of those ambitions: “I wanted to create a tour. The first idea was to create something like Strictly but a live stage show, but something that appealed to all the generations, with something for everybody. I wanted to create a show where the young people could enjoy their own favourite styles of dance, but something where there was also something for the older people to enjoy, something where they can maybe have a few reminiscences.

“And so the idea was to show the evolution of dance from the 1920s to the present day, to show how things went from the Charleston through to breakdance. When you start looking at all the routines, it is really interesting to see how all the different dances impacted and how everything evolves, so there are still traces of the good old-fashioned styles in what is happening now.

“A lot of it I knew from years of being a dancer, but there are lots of styles that I didn’t do myself. I had to cast dancers who specialised in those styles, and the dancers are pretty special.”

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And into the mix comes Chris: “As every fan of The X Factor will know, Chris has got a fantastic singing voice, and I’m very lucky to be joined by him.

“Christopher was my big mate in the Big Brother house, and he has performed at many of my various events. He has got an incredible voice. It is so powerful. That’s what I needed, someone who can sing it all live. Some people can hide away in the recording studio, but Christopher can really do it live. He can sing all the songs from Elvis Presley right through to the present-day.”

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