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LEE AND SHELLEY
A Secret Language
 So, what is it that makes a great partnership then? One that appears seamless, instinctive, natural, and above all, real. One that people warm to, because it feels right, because the partnership is so damn likeable, and because they cant imagine it any other way.
Actually, I think I’ve answered my own question already, so what I’ll do is speak to one such partnership to illustrate my point. And I’ve given that away in the title, so no surprises there then.
So, welcome Lee and Shelley!
One of the tricks in salsa is to be able to teach, perform, socialise and dance with your pupils in the space of one evening. So, you are a teacher one minute, then you have a bit of a chat, then you are a performer – an entirely different creature in any other sphere – then you’re back with the rest of us again afterwards.
And you have to make it look easy and natural, like it all flows. And Shelly and Lee do just that – they pull it off with ease, because they are not actually pulling it off, they are just being themselves. Which is what people warm to in the end.
So, when I chatted to them recently at the Mambo City Five Star Congress, I wanted to know how this partnership began.
“We loved dancing together,” said Shelly. “We were great friends but we’d never thought about entering competitions and becoming a partnership. We’d go out as mates and dance with other people, but spend most of the night dancing with each other.”
“We knew we sparked off each other,” said Lee, “and we were both in other dance troupes at the time – Shelly was in Manhattan Mambo and I was in the Diablo Dance Company.”
But it took a bit of intervention and persuasion by other people before they realised that becoming a partnership themselves would be a good idea.
“We went to Salsa Splash”, explained Shelley, “and Robert and Jean White and Julian the Duke sat us down for two hours and persuaded us to team up!”
And, voila, a partnership was born.
“We entered our first competition and got to the finals,” said Lee, “And what we remembered most was the really warm reception we got.”
“And after that,” continued Shelley, “we were surprised that more and more people approached us to perform!”
After that great start, they have continued to grow and gather a loyal following – with competition titles under their belts, and teaching gigs all over the UK and abroad. They know each other very, very well, but as Shelly ponted out, they are so close that sometimes they have to be careful and stand back a bit.
“We work together, and live together,” she said. “We anticipate what the other one is saying sometimes, and we know each other’s most intimate secrets!!”
So, why does the pair think they are so popular?
Said Shelley, “I think it’s because we are very accessible, enjoy being with people and go out dancing a lot.”
“I teach four times a week,” continued Lee, “and I dance seven times a week. We both love it!”
But, I wondered, which do you prefer – teaching or performing?
Replied Lee, “That’s an impossible question – it’s like asking someone to choose between chocolate and champagne!”
However, for all us non-performers out there, don’t be fooled by the entertainment, professionalism and smiles we see on stage. There’s a price to pay….
“Performing doesn’t come naturally to me,” explained Lee, “In fact; I have been known to be sick both before and after the performance.”
And also, for the last few years, they have been juggling studying commitments with teaching and performing. Lee was studying when they first started, and Shelley was working towards her PhD, and is now a stockbroker. Makes you wonder how they find enough hours in the day to put all that energy into both parts of their lives. But they do. Which is lucky for us.
They both love the world they’re in at the moment; the travelling, the dancing, and, as Shelly said, “That secret language we all share.”
And it’s their secret language, an obvious synergy and connection which attracts us to them as well as their genuine warmth and passion and enthusiasm for dancing.
Chocolate AND champagne anyone?
www.leeandshelley.co.uk
www.chrispenhall.co.uk
Copyright Chris Penhall 2007
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