Shelby grew up in the St. Louis dance community beginning her early training Dance Art and Spirits Gymnastics in 1994. She was invited to join the competition team in 1997 at Motion Express School of Dance and Acrobatics where she received exciting new opportunities. For example, in 2001 she auditioned and was selected to dance with Les Grands Ballets Canadien de Montreal professional ballet performance of The Nutcracker at the Fox Theater (sponsored by Dance St. Louis).

 

In her competitive dance years, she received Scholarships to attend Workshops in Branson, Nashville, Las Vegas and New York City (Broadway Dance Center).  She competed in Junior, Teen and Senior Divisions where she won Top Soloist recognitions, Special Judges Awards, as well as Regional / National Titles.

 

To name a few, she won Junior Miss Global Dance at the International Dance Challenge (2002), Junior Rising Star at Rising Star Regional Dance Competition (2003), Miss Teen Spotlight at Spotlight Regional Dance Competition (2004), Junior Miss Dance of St. Louis at Dance Masters of America Regional Chapter Competition (2004), Senior Rising Star at Rising Star Regional Dance Competition (2005), Ultimate Miss Dance at Cathy Roe's National Ultimate Dance Competition (2006) and Teen Miss Spotlight at Spotlight National Dance Competition (2006). 

 

She began pre-professional dance training in 2007 under the direction of Lee Nolting & Alicia Graf Mack at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA). As a member of COCAdance she worked with Cecil Slaughter, Kate Skarpetowska, Jon Lehrer, Darrel Grand Moultrie as well as Emily & Matt Kent of Pilobolus.​ She also attended a Martha Graham "Steps" Workshop at Washington University with Bonnie Oda Homsey.

 

In the summer 2009 before starting her senior year of high school, she attended two intensives on scholarship! She attended Broadway Theater Dance Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she had the honor to work with Ann Reinking, Tim Santos, Patricia Birch, Michael Duran, Leslie Jennings, Jim Ruttman, Russell Baker and Germain Salsberg. A few weeks later, she attended NYU’s Tisch Summer Residency Festival on scholarship and performed repertoire by Robert Battle, Gina Gibney, & Ronald K. Brown.

 

While attending the University of the Arts in Philadelphia on scholarship, she would audition for summer intensive scholarships to continue her training. She went to Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts in Connecticut (Repertoire by Kevin Wynn, Robin Dunn, Marlena Wolfe & Alenka Cizmesija), Alvin Ailey Professional Summer Intensive in New York City (Repertoire by Kirven Douthit-Boyd & Sonia Dawkins), & Complexions Professional Summer Intensive in New York City (Repertoire by Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson & Jae Man Joo).

 

Graduating magna cum laude with a BFA in Modern Performance in 2014, she received the Stella Moore Prize for Four Years of Achievement & the Philadelphia Ballet Choreography Award. Shelby was a jazz instructor for the Pre-College Festival at UArts & rehearsal assistant for Hope Boykin, Mark Caserta, Meredith Rainey, & Gary Jeter. She danced professionally as a principal company member of Eleone Dance Theatre (2011 - 2014) as well as a guest artist with both Waheed Works and DanceSpora in Philadelphia (2016).

 

Training to become a professional dancer throughout her adolescence into adulthood, she experienced recurring injuries and suffered from body dysmorphia. In 2020, the pandemic gave her the opportunity to slow down and focus on caring for herself. This led to her becoming a Practitioner in multiple holistic modalities.

 

Shelby's back in Missouri teaching at Studio Ivanhoe Pilates & Movement in Lindenwood Park as a Certified Pilates & Barre Instructor. She’s also an internationally Certified Usui Holy Fire® III Reiki Master Practitioner, a Sonic Sound Master / Therapeutic Sound Practitioner as well as Meditation Teacher specializing in Pranayama and Third Eye Awakening Techniques.

 

She guides people to be aware of the ENERGY they put out into the universe, while also helping them learn how to take up SPACE unapologetically. In 2022, Shelby founded ENERGY SPACE ® in order to create an avenue for others who want to begin their journey to HEAL their mind-body in a way that feels authentically ALIGNED with their soul and spirit.