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David Shackleford

Doing my best to leave my former life in Adelaide behind me, I moved to Melbourne in March 2001. I took my first Total Beginners class at Swing Patrol (taught by Emily and Ben Williamson at CBD) in July 2001, and I still remember walking out insisting that the little demo that Em and Ben did at the start of the class was choreographed, because I was SURE "there's no way anyone can lead and follow moves like that" .... Oh, how naive (and wrong) I was!

In late-2001 I learnt the basic steps of the Balboa during a private lesson with Claudia, but it wasn’t until the second half of 2002 that (I guess some would say) I found a niche for myself doing “that strange shuffly dance with the funky footwork”.... I've now got to smile when people ask me whether I can actually remember how to Lindy! "Yeah sure I can REMEMBER it, but why work up a sweat dancing it??" *wink*

For a few years, I completely immersed himself in my new-found swing dancing life: I took classes (7 days a week at one point!), I social danced, I travelled to camps, performed in performance troupes, taught and competed, and I'd be lying if I said it's been anything but an awesome ride. Nowadays, I'm a bit more inclined to take it easy and pace myself.... Hey, this swing dancing thing is going to be with me for the rest of my life, and if I still want to be dancing to those awesome swing tunes when I'm 80, I've got to maintain some perspective, and balance swing dancing with the rest of my life.

Credits
• 2001-2006: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and unplaced at various swing dance competitions around Australia (of which the highlight for me personally was getting 2nd place with Sharon Callaghan at the 2003 Australian Hellzapoppin' Prize)
• 2003: Finalist (with Claudia Funder) in Cleveland All Bal, Classic Balboa competition (Cleveland OH, USA)
• 2004-2006: Teaching every Monday night with Emily Gassner at Bridie O’Reillys (Brunswick, Melbourne)
• 2004, 2005 and 2006: Teaching with Claudia Funder at the Balboa Rendezvous (San Diego, California)
• 2005: Taught with Claudia Funder at Balboa on the Rocks (Sydney, Australia)
• 2005: Taught with Claudia Funder at the London Balboa Festival (London, UK)