A professional dancer from Cornwall is off on a world tour with Brit Award-winning pop singer Dua Lipa, who headlines Glastonbury festival tonight (Friday, June 28). Luca Rainbow has been booked to join the singer on stage as she embarks on a 23-date tour including Germany, Croatia, Spain, the US and Malaysia and Japan, as well as of course several dates in the UK.
The 20-year-old was working on jobs such as the Voice, the Eurovision Song Contest and the Brits at just 18 years old when he was spotted by the singer and asked to join her on tour. Luca started dancing with The Big Dance Company in Penzance at 11 years old, where he trained in breakdance with Kyle Richardson.
Studio founding director Fiona Richardson said she saw a special spark in him and encouraged him to study other styles of dance. She said that before she knew it he was winning competitions, was scouted for scholarships and then went straight into work at 18 after hours and hours of training.
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Fiona said: "Luca Rainbow is such a humble and kind human being and this, along with his super talent, has catapulted him to success. He is such an incredible role model. We're all so immensely proud of him."
Dua Lipa, is an English Albanian singer, songwriter and model with seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards under her belt. Time included her in its list of the top 100 most influential people in the world for 2024.
Speaking from Glastonbury earlier this week where he was rehearsing his dance routine ahead of Lipa's show, Luca told CornwallLive: "I got the job through an audition but had worked with the choreographer prior to this job as well. I am so grateful to be working with such a down-to-earth and talented artist/human."
He added: "Being on stage with Dua is such an incredible feeling. She holds such a powerful stage presence, so dancing with her in front of a massive audience really shows you the sheer level of her talents. Especially when the audience is that engaged with the performance and know all the lyrics, it just makes the energy that much stronger."
The Big Dance Company is no stranger to producing champions and stars. Four of its dancers have been selected to represent England at the Dance World Cup in Prague.
Fiona said: "Our girls Emily Osborne, 14, Annie Mae Fearn, 12, Skye Hollow, 11, and Erin Thirlby, 12 were scouted by Elite Acro associates when we were attending conventions. Now they will be travelling to Prague next week in the biggest dance competition in the world. We are so proud of them. They will be competing against the best groups from all over the world in an Acro Dance Category."
Dancers from the Penzance troupe also picked up gold at The Dance Olympic Games held in the prestigious Winter Gardens in Blackpool earlier this month.
