Credit: Make A Noise
By Grace Hatchell, writing this from the edge of the dancefloor with one foot in a Cha Cha, one hand on me satchel, and absolutely no confidence that Royal Mail trained me for this.
Guest star Janette Manrara joins Nikita Kuzmin’s Supernova UK tour — and Grace is already practising her Paso Doble in the post office queue
Janette Manrara will join Nikita Kuzmin: Supernova presented by Burn the Floor on selected UK tour dates this summer, alongside Strictly favourites Karen Hauer and Nadiya Bychkova.
There are some press releases that arrive in my satchel quietly, politely, with a sensible little cough.
And then there are the ones that burst through the postbox in sequins, spin twice across the sorting room, wink at the kettle and leave me wondering whether I’ve just been invited to a theatre show or accidentally signed up for Strictly Come Dancing.
This, dear reader, is very much the second kind.
Professional dancer, actress and TV presenter Janette Manrara is set to join Nikita Kuzmin: Supernova presented by Burn the Floor on selected dates this summer, bringing what the release quite rightly calls her signature sparkle, charisma, Latin heat and sensational performance energy to the production.
And honestly, if that sentence had any more shimmer in it, I’d need to deliver it wearing sunglasses.
The new dance spectacular will tour the UK in June and July 2026, with Nikita Kuzmin taking centre stage alongside friends, colleagues and dancers from past and present. The production comes from Burn the Floor, the world-renowned ballroom-based dance company known for taking traditional dance forms, giving them a theatrical rocket boost, and sending them spinning into something high-voltage, glamorous and just a little bit dangerous-looking.
Janette will appear on the tour from 23 to 27 June across England, joining the previously announced Strictly names Karen Hauer and Nadiya Bychkova, who will also appear on selected dates.
Karen Hauer, the longest-serving female professional on Strictly, returns to the stage following news of her departure from the show. Fans will be able to see her across a number of dates, including 9 to 21 June, 30 June to 5 July, 7 to 12 July, and at New Wimbledon Theatre on 19 July. With her history as a former World Mambo Champion and Professional American Rhythm Rising Star Champion, Karen is not so much bringing firepower as turning up with the whole flamethrower, bless her.
Closing the tour alongside Nikita will be Nadiya Bychkova, appearing on newly announced dates from 14 to 18 July, as well as previously announced dates from 21 to 25 July. A two-time World and European Champion in Ballroom and Latin 10 Dance, Nadiya has been a familiar and elegant force on Strictly since 2017, and if anyone can make a ballroom entrance feel like royalty has just entered via glitter cannon, it’s her.
The whole thing is created by legendary choreographer Jason Gilkison, a BAFTA award-recipient and the sort of person whose name makes dance fans sit up straighter in their chairs. He says he is “beyond excited” to have three of his favourite dancing superstars joining Nikita on stage for what he calls a very special reunion.
And that’s the thing with Supernova. This doesn’t sound like a polite evening of “very nice dancing, thank you.” This sounds like ballroom with its shoes polished, its pulse racing and its dramatic lighting turned all the way up.
The show promises a fusion of ballroom, Latin and contemporary styles, all brought together with Nikita’s charm, power and charisma. Traditional dances including the Viennese Waltz and Foxtrot will sit alongside the passion of the Tango and Paso Doble, while the Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba and Jive bring the kind of energy that makes you want to clear the living room floor and immediately regret not stretching first.
Burn the Floor has been thrilling audiences since 1999, earning a reputation for reinventing the ballroom art form through world-class dancers, live music and show-stopping choreography. This latest production looks set to continue that tradition, combining jaw-dropping movement, live vocalists and a global cast of multi-disciplined dancers.
Producer Harley Medcalf describes the chance to work with Nikita and Jason on a ground-breaking new show as “the producer’s dream.”
Which is lovely, though personally my dream is getting through a full day’s deliveries without my bicycle chain falling off outside a theatre. We all have our ambitions.
The tour opens at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury on 9 and 10 June, before travelling to venues including Newport, Nottingham, Manchester, York, Darlington, Blackpool, Llandudno, Torquay, Swindon, Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury, Portsmouth, Brighton, Hull, Sheffield, Coventry, Leicester, Liverpool, Carlisle, Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Scunthorpe, Poole, Bath, Wimbledon, Southend-on-Sea, Eastbourne, Guildford, Cambridge and Ipswich.
For us up north, there are a few dates worth circling in very dramatic red pen. Karen Hauer appears at Darlington Hippodrome on 17 June, while Nadiya Bychkova joins the show at Tyne Theatre & Opera House in Newcastle on 14 July. There are also Scottish dates in Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh with Karen.
And if you’re wondering whether this is one for Strictly fans, dance lovers, theatre audiences or anyone who simply enjoys watching impossibly talented people do things with their legs that would put the rest of us in physiotherapy, I’d say yes.
All of the above.
Because there’s something wonderfully theatrical about ballroom when it’s done at this scale. It’s not just steps. It’s storytelling through posture, rhythm, tension, chemistry and that glorious moment when a dancer pauses just long enough for the audience to collectively forget how breathing works.
Nikita Kuzmin: Supernova presented by Burn the Floor sounds like a show built for that kind of moment. Big music. Big movement. Big glamour. The sort of evening where the stage doesn’t merely host the dancing — it gets swept up in it.
So if you see me pedalling past the Tyne Theatre this July with a satchel full of press releases and one foot suspiciously trying to jive off the pedal, mind your business.
I am not showing off.
I am simply embracing the rhythm.
Nikita Kuzmin: Supernova presented by Burn the Floor tours the UK from June to July 2026. Tickets are available via the participating theatre websites and the official show website: www.nikitasupernova.uk
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