Farewell on Sheffield stage to Strictly Come Dancing TV star Pasha Kovalev

Pasha Kovalev, professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing

In what will be Pasha’s Strictly swansong, he’ll be joined by nine other amazing pro dancers from BBC One’s award-winning series in Strictly Come Dancing - the Professionals, which is at Sheffield City Hall on May 30 and 31.

The line-up for the show is 2017 Strictly champion Katya Jones, 2017 semi-finalist AJ Pritchard, 2016 finalist Oti Mabuse, undefeated four-time British national champion Neil Jones, Australian open champion and 2018 Strictly finalist Dianne Buswell, three-time Strictly finalist Giovanni Pernice, professional world mambo champion and former Strictly finalist Karen Clifton, 2017 finalist Gorka Marquez and two-time ballroom and latin world champion Nadiya Bychkova.

The Russian-born dancer reached the finals again this year with Ashley Roberts and won series 12 with Carolin Flack. He holds records for the most maximum scores and the longest run of maximum scores.

Pasha said: “The b est thing about this is that we dance every night in front of an arena of people who really enjoy it.

“People who enjoy Strictly get a chance to see their favourite show live. On TV it’s one thing and the energy is different.

“They can choose where to look and what to see with every dance. It’s very, very exciting. It’s very loud, very reactive and very interactive.”

Pasha described the show: “It’s going to be all about the professionals and we will be talking about Strictly from the point of view of the professionals.

“You will learn more about us as dancers and people. We get to talk about our side of Strictly.”

Pasha promised: “There will be a lot of banter with the audience.”

Of course, it’s not all talk! “People will get to see a while variety of dances they’re used to seeing, including very energetic cha cha chas and pasos, tangos filled with emotion and character. We’re bringing the other side of Strictly, the side of professional dance.

“It will be a strong show with live music and all the professionals doing beautiful choreography and energy. If people love Strictly, they will love the show."

Pasha said he was looking forward to coming to Sheffield for the second time this year, following the Strictly Live tour that came to the FlyDSA A rena at the end of January.

“Any time we come north on any tours to venues like Sheffield, people are always very, very loud and that’s how we like it!”

Pasha said that Latin was definitely his favourite as it suits his energy as a dancer better. "With Latin dances such as paso, there's so much passion and energy.

"It's just one of my favourite character dances. When you watch dance on TV at times you can see raw energy that connects performer and audience.

"When you watch it live, you've got that repartee between audience and dancer. It's a direct connection, a thing where emotion flows between the room and the individual. It's so strong you can almost touch it.

"Passion is one of the most attractive things, that connection we can establish with the audience.

" We make people feel just the way we do and see the energy."

Tour website: strictlytheprofessionals.com