They came 2nd in the 1982, 1983 & 1985 Professional World Latin Dance Championships. They met at a Latin competition in Montreal, Quebec. The pair moved to Houston, Texas to compete in the United States of America. Their only child, Mark Ballas, of Dancing with the Stars fame, was born in 1986.
This would later lead to Mark naming his rock band Almost Amy.
She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles earning her the nickname, "The Queen of Latin." Shirley was first married to, and competed with, fellow Briton Sammy Stopford. The pair won the 1983 International Latin American Dance Championship, and were the 1984 United Kingdom Open Champions in Professional Latin. Together they won the International Latin American Dance Championship for 1995, at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
