Strictly stars head to Norfolk and Suffolk

Strictly Come Dancing stars Brian Fortuna and Kristina Rihanoff who will be appearing at Cromer and Lowestoft.

Two of the stars of Strictly Come Dancing are waltzing their way to Norfolk and Suffolk next spring for two seaside shows.

Sultry Siberian Kristina Rihanoff and American Brian Fortuna will be leaving their celebrity partners behind and bring a dancing double act to theatres at Cromer and Lowestoft.

The shows will include dancing demonstrations, workshops with audience participation and a question and answer session.

Promoter John Sachs said the Strictly stars were doing a series of tours in 2010 - from big arenas to more intimate showcases at dance schools.

“People like to get up close and personal to these dancers, who are at home in front of 10,000 or 200 people,” he added.

Kristina, who is 31 and 5ft 3in, has been dancing competitively since she was seven. She famously made her debut last year with political reporter John Sergeant who defied the judges' criticism and won popular backing week after week until he volunteered to step down in show nine.

This year she teamed up on the dance floor, and linked romantically, with boxer Joe Calzaghe, but was voted off in show five.

Brian, who is 26 and 6ft 0in, was born and raised in Philadelphia and is now based in Los Angeles. Both of his parents held nationally ranked titles in ballroom and Latin. He started dancing when he was four at his mother's dance studio in New Jersey, and has danced in and hosted hundreds of various shows since then.

Last year he partnered M People singer Heather Small. This year he is dancing with TV soap actress Ali Bastian from the Bill and Hollyoaks - and still in the contest after being saved by the judges last week.

Brian and Kristina are professional partners and regularly tour together. The smaller theatre events have been added to the 2010 tour schedule, on top of the larger city arena events.

On March 23 they will perform at Cromer Pier Pavilion, and on April 4 they return to the region at Lowestoft's Marina Theatre.

Cromer pier spokesman Bruce Stratton said the dance night was “an exciting coup” for the venue, already well-known for the quality of the dancing in his summer season show. He hoped local people would leap at the chance to see the stars they watched each week in the prime time BBC TV show dancing live on a local stage.

Tickets costing £20 for the 7.30pm Cromer show go on sale on Monday . Contact the box office on 01263 512495.

Tickets for Lowestoft (£22.50) are available through the box office 01502 533200 or at www.marinatheatre.co.uk