Kylie's favourite choreographer

It was the dance routine that transfixed the nation - but Kylie Minogue's headline-grabbing boogie at the Brits would never have happened without Rafael Bonachela.

And there are more such flashes of brilliance to come: the classically trained dancer's routine for Kylie went down such a storm that she has asked him to mastermind the choreography for her upcoming world tour.

Rambert Dance Company member Bonachela, 29, was commissioned to choreograph the diva's Brits dance when her creative director William Baker saw his last piece, Linear Remains, at Sadler's Wells late last year. "He e-mailed the next day and asked me to work with Kylie," said Bonachela. "It was amazing."

Apart from auditioning and training the 20 backing dancers, Mr Bonachela spent weeks sweating up a storm with the singer in rehearsal. He said: "Kylie is such a big star so I was worried she might be a prima donna - but she wasn't.

"I found she is very fit as well as being a natural mover. Plus she was really committed to working hard, and would always be saying, 'let's do that again' to get everything just right."

The highlight of Bonachela's routine - for photographers - was a shimmy that afforded them a view of the 33-year old's admirable bottom. But the man behind the move is amazed at the reaction it sparked. "I saw the front pages next morning," he said. "They all had Kylie doing the routine. It was astonishing. Of course I was not thinking about trying to choreograph the dance so everyone could see her bum."

Spanish-born Bonachela has now become a celebrity's celebrity, but he is staying true to his roots at the Rambert. He turned down an offer from Donatella Versace to see her show in Milan - so he could dance in High Wycombe.

However the offer to choreograph Kylie's world tour was too good to refuse. "The Rambert has given me time off," he said.

"There are going to be 12 dancers as well as Kylie on stage, but they're not there to look pretty and they will have to deliver - we want to push the limits well beyond the dancing in a traditional pop concert."

Bonachela will return to the Rambert at Sadler's Wells on 14 May.