Strictly champion Pasha Kovalev choreographs new Horsham musical

With script and score written by Worthing-based husband and wife team Nigel and Anna Newman, the new show Barista The Musical premieres at Horsham’s Capitol Theatre from September 12-21.

And Pasha is convinced that they are all onto a winner: “It's not often that you get the chance to choreograph a new show. A lot of the time you are working on already-existing shows. A lot of the old shows get revived and a lot of the old movies get redone. People go back to already famous pieces of art and build on that so working on a new show is quite unusual but you risk it for the biscuit! Anything in life is risky but we have the opportunity here to create something that is fresh and current and entertaining and also educating in a way. It's a story about two characters falling in love but you also get to see the authentic dance of Colombia and a little bit about that culture.”

The production charts a young Colombian woman's journey to follow her dreams whilst unlocking the nightmares of her past, a blend of love, truth, passion and the darkest of secrets.

“I didn't know the writers but my reputation in Latin dance brought them my way.

"They approached me and told me about the great idea that they had for the show and how it was developing, a show that is a marriage between two worlds, one being Latin American Colombian dance another world being British. It's a love story between those two worlds, and with my knowledge of Latin dance they wanted to see how I would help them bring it together and it has been really exciting.

“With something like this you start from the music and fortunately for this show the music is amazing. The writing and the compositions are amazingly put together. It is really incredible. I know Nigel in no way shape or form is connected with the Latin world but he has expressed it in such a cheerful and wonderfully authentic way that it really blew me away especially with the music. The whole show and every aspect of it has a wonderful musicality to it.”

When choreographing it you take the hints from the music: “And you marry it to the world the show and what the show is about and you work with the director very closely to bring it all together.

"This show is not at all well known now but I'm sure it will be. Like every good show it's revolves around a love story, people falling in love and going through all the obstacles as their romance develops and this show is not an exception in that respect but it really is a beautiful love story, a British boy and a Colombian girl and if you look at the history of any big shows they always start in the small way. Someone comes up with a brilliant idea and writes some incredible music and gets a great director and gets the choreographer in and you put the show together in a small theatre and you just test the ground and see what happens from there.”