Show must go on for top dancer Brendan Cole
Brendan Cole has been dropped by Strictly Come Dancing and faced a furore over his boogie with Camilla Parker Bowles, but will still perform in Ireland next week, writes .
The biggest tour of your career is not the time you want to find yourself in the eye of a media and professional storm, but that’s exactly what happened to Brendan Cole as he polished his dancing shoes for his new show.
The New Zealander learned that his contract with Strictly Come Dancing — a show where he’d become a household name over 15 years — was not to be renewed.
Amid claim and counter claim, he did what was in his DNA since he took part in dance contests in his native Christchurch as a child — he took to the stage and danced.
“At my first show after the news had broken, the entire audience of over 1,000 people erupted in applause as I finished the first number. Many of them turned their phone lights on and waved them and they stamped their feet to show their support. It was a moment I will never forget. I did not expect it and the love and support has been incredible,” he said.
There have been numerous reasons suggested as to why Cole’s role in Strictly came to an end, among them the claim that he’d breached royal protocol after dancing with Camilla Parker Bowles at a party.
“I didn’t breach any protocol. Last time I checked, asking a lady to dance at her tea party was a chivalrous thing to do. We both enjoyed it.
"I was of course disappointed at the news, however, that disappointment soon turned to excitement about a future, post-Strictly. I will of course miss being on the show that I helped mould over the past 14 years, but the next chapter has now begun.”
The show must go on, and next week Cole and his crew will tango their way to Cork, Dublin and Belfast for the final dates in his All Night Long tour. He cannot wait to return to Cork and the Opera House.
“It’s an intimate venue, you feel like the audience are right there with you. Last time we were there, there were beautiful sunny days, we were walking down by the river, we had a really lovely time. The hard work goes in at the beginning, then once we’re on the road we just have the most ridiculously good time.”
He has a particular soft spot for both Irish and northern British audiences, who, he says, are lively and out for fun.
The first time I came here with my first production was probably one of the most incredible experiences I ever had on a stage. I was on stage, behind a gauze, and you could see my silhouette, but you didn’t know if it was me or someone else. The lights went down before the curtain went up. The audience just erupted, and they hadn’t seen anything yet. They were buzzing.
"I just saw my entire band taking this intake of energy that was coming from the crowd. It was very special, it was sensational. I felt like a rock star!”
All Night Long sees him working with both former and new collaborators, strutting their stuff to a mix of Latin fever and ballroom magic with a 14-piece band.
“The kind of show that I do, it works for the stage. The choreography will change, and you’re working with different people — this particular show, we have a different dance cast and that brings a different creativity and a different energy.”
I tell him about Cork’s own Rob Heffernan, a world champion race-walker who recently told me he was nevertheless pushed to the brink training for Dancing With the Stars.
“I think it’s the same with every discipline. I’d imagine if I did a race walk I’d be in bits afterwards. I’d be cramping up. You are fit for what you do. If I’m doing lifts where I’m using specific muscle groups then I’ll start feeling it.
"Once we’re on tour it’s a two-hour show. But you can’t train for adrenaline, your nerves. When you put an audience before you, I reckon another 20 per cent comes from somewhere that you can not train for.”
