The Dance Studio owner Shelley Ross Ballarat's true shining star behind dance fundraiser

The owner of The Dance Studio Ballarat has spent the past nine weeks preparing ten Ballarat identities and their dance partners to perform on the Civic Hall stage.

The massive feat is for the Ballarat Foundation's major fundraising event Dancing With Our Stars, which raised more than $112,000 for the philanthropic organisation when it was first held in 2019.

For Ms Ross, it is an opportunity to share what she loves, thrive on being busy and contribute to fundraising efforts for her community.

"It is something that doesn't happen every day," she said.

"The stars don't know it when they come in the door but I know the fun they are going to have and the excitement of performing on the night.

"I already know that journey so why wouldn't I want to be a part of it?"

Ten Ballarat identities with little to no dancing experience have been matched with experienced dancers from The Dance Studio.

Ms Ross spends months working to select music, costumes and create choreography for each dancing couple before spending 10 weeks teaching the routines, on top of her usual teaching schedule.

Her fun and caring approach to the novice dancers is a strong reflection of the culture of her dance studio.

"Make it enjoyable and have fun with it and that brings everyone out, makes them dance their best and feel good about themselves," she said.

"I want everyone to feel really comfortable and at home."

All dancers taking part in the fundraising challenge say their lessons are filled with lots of laughter.

"My daughters say they don't know why people come back when I laugh at them," Ms Ross said.

"It is fun. I don't want people to take it too seriously.

"If I were to growl at everyone that would be far worse than helping people laugh at themselves and laugh along with it."

Ms Ross' dancing journey began when she was nine-years-old.

Her older sister was already doing dance lessons and her mum gave her the choice of joining a lesson at the studio or going to the movies on a Saturday afternoon.

"I went to the dance class on the Saturday afternoon and they asked if I wanted to go to a competition the next week, so I did the heel toe polka and I came second," Ms Ross said.

"I was just hooked. I honestly don't think I ever missed a lesson from that day and I was always at the front of the class. I always wanted to learn."

Ms Ross left school to teach dance full-time at age 15 in her home town Upper Ferntree Gully and she was managing a studio in Ringwood by age 17.

She moved to Ballarat at age 21 and continued teaching dance, before having three children and opening her business The Dance Studio, which has now been running for 28 years.

Daughter Ashlie is one of the dancers in Dancing With Our Stars and teaches at the studio. Daughter Abbey will be a judge for the event and has been a professional dancer on television show Dancing With The Stars.

MORE DANCING INSPIRATION:

Ms Ross said she had always loved teaching technique and making sure her students were ready before entering exams and competitions, rather than 'pushing them through' as she had seen at other studios.

"I just loved technique. It gets me excited," she said.

"Even when I teach, I learn something every week.

"There is no end to it, you can't stop learning, you just keep learning all the time. That is what I think is so fascinating about it. You can't ever get bored with it."

The Dance Studio specialises in teaching Ballroom, Latin and New Vogue, with the 10 Dancing With Our Stars couples all set to perform a different style of dance.

Ms Ross said COVID-19 had produced some challenges, with the snap lockdown meaning missed lessons and concerns in December whether restrictions would allow the dancers to even touch each other.

The Dance Studio operated online classes during lockdown periods last year and ran lessons in the carpark behind the building when restrictions eased but did not allow for dancing indoors.

Ms Ross said she was feeling 'comfortable' leading into the final week of preparations for Dancing With Our Stars, after some nerves following the snap lockdown.

"I feel comfortable with where everyone is. On the night, I don't know what is going to happen because people perform differently under pressure," she said.

Thinking back to the 2019 event, Ms Ross said she and her dancers felt 'lost' once it was over.

"All of my dancers were like 'what are we going to do now?'," she said.

"Even for weeks afterwards the stars that did it would pop in at least once a week for a chat. They were so used to coming here they felt they were completely cut off.

"They were really emotional it was all over and they weren't doing it anymore.

"I was really proud of what everybody achieved because I think we were all invested that we didn't want to let each other down. Everyone pushed and pushed to do the best they could."

Ms Ross said she hoped the final fundraising total from the event would match the impressive total from 2019.

Visit dancing-with-our-stars-2021.raisely.com/ to donate and support your favourite star. Tickets are available to watch a livestream of the performance on Saturday March 20 from 7pm.

This journalist is one of the 10 Ballarat identities participating in Dancing With Our Stars.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.