Pamela Stephenson-Connolly and renowned dance choreographer Arlene Philips have travelled the world in search of a truly unique experience to bring to the stage.
Their new production, ‘Brazouka’, was created in collaboration with the Dos Santos brothers — Braz and Didi from Porto Seguro, Brazil — and is produced by one of the Burn The Floor founders, Harley Medcalf.
When chatting to Pamela, her passion for dance is palpable. "I rediscovered my own love for dance about three years ago after appearing on something that is very uncharacteristic for me, 'Strictly Come Dancing'. I decided I didn't want to stop dancing after the show finished and I wanted to stay connected to dance.
"I was around the social dance scenes trying to discover new styles like tango, salsa, Latin dance within my home of New York City, but the most satisfying dance I discovered was called Lambazouk, a dance that has developed from Lambada that is danced to Zouk music of the Caribbean. I completely responded to this dance. It was lyrical, sensual and cheeky. One of the best things is that the girls are allowed to ask the boys to dance."
But it wasn’t until Pamela visited Brazil that the “penny dropped”. "I started meeting the leading lights of the dance and the penny dropped when I went to Brazil. I suddenly realised that these dancers deserved to be seen outside of Brazil. Their athleticism, skill and in particular the passion they have for dance brought me to the decision to put the production together," she explains.
"They are such delightful, spiritual, passionate people and this is a real departure for them to be on a major stage. They love the response from the audiences!"
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‘Brazouka’ had its world debut earlier this year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in July. "Good Scottish people queued around the block, in the rain, to come and see us and when they got in they shed their anoraks and started dancing and moving. I was so thrilled!
“It is such a pleasure to be able to bring it to Australia as part of a world tour and selfishly it means that I get to spend three months in Australia which is fantastic!"
Pamela's iconic husband, Billy Connolly, has joined the cast by narrating the show Earlier this year he revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson's. "He is going great, he has had his cancer operation and has come out the other side feeling great. His Parkinson's is very mild and manageable. He has been living with it for ten years. He is a true comedian and gets a lot of milage out of it on stage!" she laughs.
"He has been to see the show three times and is coming down to Australia with me, we are going to have Christmas in Australia this year, which will be lovely."
Brazouka Tour Dates
Thu 23 Oct till Sun 26 Oct - Regal Theatre (Perth)Thu 13 Nov till Sun 16 Nov - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Wed 19 Nov till Sun 30 Nov - The Palms At Crown (Melbourne)
Thu 4 Dec till Sun 18 Jan - Jupiters Theatre (Gold Coast)
