Ballroom Blitz

Dedicated dancers have no time for squabbles in a regime of hard-out practice. FRANCES GRANT goes behind the scenes of dancesport.

Matt Tatton-Brown knows what attracted him to ballroom and Latin dancing when he began more than three years ago. "It was the girls," says the 15-year-old from East Coast Bays.

His mother, Diane, shares a favourite quote from her son when he's out of earshot.

"He says he wouldn't know why any red-blooded male wouldn't want to do this: 'You get to hold a scantily clad woman very close and then she asks you to stand closer.' "

Matt's dance partner and schoolmate, Shenee Mawhinney, 14, has a less risque answer. Her friends at Rangitoto College, on Auckland's North Shore, got her interested.

Matt and Shenee, who won a national junior title last year, are among the competitors in a new telly series which brings ballroom and Latin dancing - or dancesport, as it's called by practitioners - back on screen.

Battle of the Ballroom is made by Wonder Dogs team Mark Leishman and Jim Mora, who don tuxedos to present the show - a dance-off between regional teams from around the country and a behind-the-scenes look at what drives the enthusiasts.

Yes, you could call it "Tux Wonder Dancing," says Leishman. Not only because he and Mora had to tog-up to meet the high standard of dress required for this sport, but because the dancers, like dog enthusiasts, are a breed of passionate people.

At the Ucan2 dance studio in Albany, Matt and Shenee - the junior pairing for the Shore City team competing in the show - take time out from practice to give 7Days a sample of the attitude: Is real-life dancesport anything like it was portrayed in the movie Strictly Ballroom?

Matt: In some aspects it is, in the way that there's lots of practice going on. Sometimes you do get fed up, but most of the time you stick to your routines.

Shenee: No, it was Australian. The attitude was that they were very mean to other people, they were very snobby. But us - we're all friends, literally. Like my best friend is my hardest competition.

What do you enjoy most about dancing?

Shenee: The social side, you meet so many people. I wouldn't want it to become a very competitive sport where you're always mean to other people, because that's not what it's about. You're meant to have fun. We work hard and we're proud of our placings, too, when we get them.

How important is dressing up and looking good?

Shenee: You can't be half-prepared. You have to go all the way because you have to look good and that's what the judging is also on. If you don't look like a good couple then you obviously won't be judged as well You spend six days a week dancing, up to two hours a day. Do you have time for other interests?

Shenee: I'm really into stars and stuff. It's a little hobby that I'm into. I collect little aliens, stuff like that.

Matt: I played rugby for nine-and-a-half years. I gave it up this year because of the dancing. Last year I came off the field with various injuries and it was pretty hard for the dance competitions. It was either dancing or rugby.

What do your friends think about your dancing?

Matt: Some people at school get sick of me practising my turning. Sometimes I just get bored with something and I start practising turning at school and they get annoyed and say to stop it.

Shenee: My whole group of friends do dancing.

Do you two always get along well together?

Matt: There's no time for arguments.

Shenee: And if anything happens we always get it sorted out straight away and that's how we go. We fix it, we don't dwell on anything, it's like ... 'Get over it, it's fine.'

Would it work as well if you were boyfriend and girlfriend?

Matt: It's not a good idea because if you break up it ruins it. It just doesn't work. Until you get to the proper adult stuff you shouldn't think about it. If you do break up it puts the partnership in jeopardy.

What makes a really good partnership?

Shenee: We're like best friends really, eh? In terms of dancing, good height, the girl's got to be shorter than the guy and Matt's taller than me, which helps.

Matt: You've got to understand the other person's way of dancing and what they're good at and what they're not so good at. You've got to help them along if they're having trouble with something, and if you're having trouble they have to help you. Our parents describe it as like a marriage.

Shenee: Yeah, we see each other more than we do our families.

Were you excited about being on Battle of the Ballroom?

Shenee: Yes, I was rapt.

Matt: We were looking forward to it for as long as we knew about it.

Shenee: We worked so hard and we were just dying to go down to Wellington (the show was filmed at the Avalon studios) and see everyone.

Matt: And to be on TV. That was the biggie.

Who: Shenee Mawhinney and Matt Tatton-Brown

What: Battle of the Ballroom

Where: TV One

When: Wednesday, 8 pm