Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kuzmin is touring his second solo show, Supernova, around the UK. He is paired with one of three guest stars each evening, and tonight it’s an assured and still-brilliant Karen Hauer, Strictly’s longest-serving female pro. Seven other spinning, swirling, professional dancers and fabulous singer Lois Faith complete an ensemble with stratospheric levels of talent. The show consists of long, technically-superlative dance sequences, stunningly choreographed by BAFTA-winning Jason Gilkison. Strictly’s creative director, Gilkison, founded dance company Burn the Floor, veterans in the art of crowd-pleasing spectacle, which produces the show. The dances are interspersed with a bit of chat between Kuzmin, Hauer, and fictional AI presence Nova.
The spoken sections have their moments: Kuzmin weeps as he remembers his Ukrainian grandfather, who died just as the show began, and talks about the process of learning to love Britain. He leans into camp (“I’m more of an espresso martini sort of girl”), comic mispronunciations (“silly willy”, “Buzzingstoke”) and innuendo (“I like it gentle”). But these are generally the show’s weakest points, and there’s a cringeworthy competition in the second half that introduces awkward audience participation at the expense of more dancing. The constant references to English rain in the middle of the summer’s sweaty third heatwave feel oddly jarring, and the dialogue often has the pre-scripted false jollity of Eurovision hosts.
Costumes, set, lighting and videography are all outstanding. The illuminated staircase and balcony, designed by Henry Thomas, are versatile. With Richard G Jones’ punchy lighting design and Leo Flint’s restless videos, the backdrop morphs from urban cityscape to candlelit crypt, reflecting the rapidly shifting scenes in this extravaganza. There are starry skies and sunsets and psychedelic firework bursts. Vicky Gill’s innovative costumes are even more delightful. They feature tassels, sparkles and split-skirts in the Strictly mould, but Gill’s designs go beyond classic his-and-hers outfits to produce a dynamic catwalk of fur coats and fans, sashaying silk and twinkling mirrors.
As six-time Italian Latin and Ballroom champ, Kuzmin is in his element among the neon and sequins of the flawless designs. Both styles are showcased to perfection, along with some fluid and seamless sections of contemporary dance. A classic Hollywood-themed sequence is an ideal excuse for old-school glamour, recreating Paris to a song by Raye. A Latin number brings smouldering sexiness, a rainbow-backed sequence set to the Pet Shop Boys’ It’s a Sin has a flamboyant homoerotic energy, while a poignant, slower movement in memory of his grandfather, to the strains of Coldplay’s Fix You, is packed with expressive movement and evocative lighting. The opening lines of Romeo and Juliet introduce a powerful series of dances based on Shakespeare’s star-crossed play, with the dancers’ striking blood-red costumes forming a backdrop to the lovers in white and with music partly borrowed from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s 1990s Romeo + Juliet. The supporting dancers are all outstanding, especially the women, sometimes recalling the classic quip about Fred Astaire: “Sure he was great, but Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards and in high heels.”
Born in Kyiv, Kuzmin has lived and danced in five countries and is now in his fifth year as a Strictly pro dancer. In 2023, he got to the final with Layton Williams. This dance-tastic spectacle nominally explores aspects of Kuzmin’s life and work. It also serves as a vehicle for his 1000-watt smile and diamond-glittering charisma – not to mention his finely-toned torso (“don’t worry – there will be nudiness and nakedness later on”, he reassures the audience near the start). Strictly superfans will not want to miss this joyful, big-hearted celebration of dance. Kuzmin has been touring since early June and has just five scheduled shows left to run around the South and East of England. Catch him if you can.
Reviewed on 19 July 2026 and continues to tour
