I remember Singin’ In The Rain. On the sofa

He may be one of Scotland’s most successful and respected dancers but even Christopher Harrison was daunted at being asked to dance in the footsteps of Gene Kelly – or at least the screen legend’s tricky choreography from Pas De Dieux.

“The last thing you want to do is look like a ballet dancer who is trying to do jazz. It can look quite naff!” he said. “The challenge is trying to stay grounded and trying to get all the little niche styles of jazz into it. It’s been a huge challenge, but I think we’re there.”

Harrison plays the lead role of The Choreographer in Starstruck, and while Kelly’s looser jazz style was very different from classic ballet, Harrison has been enjoying dancing to a different drum. He explained: “It’s the best of both worlds. It’s a great challenge for the dancers because it’s a way to express yourself using both techniques, and it has been a lot of fun because the techniques of ballet and jazz are so different from each other. It’s going to be quite an experience trying to nail both techniques. It’s going to be brilliant.”

Harrison has been a fan of Kelly’s work ever since he was a child, and remembers a time when trying to copy one of the Hollywood legend’s moves got him into a bit of trouble with his mum. He said: “I was watching Singin’ In The Rain with my mum, it was before I started dancing and I was very young. Gene Kelly, Donald O’connor and Debbie Reynolds sing Good Morning and at the end of the number jump on a couch and push it over.

“As soon as my mum left the room I tried to jump up on the couch and push it over, and she obviously heard this crash and wallop and came running in. I got a proper telling off!”