Shelley Cook performing with her husband, Gil Prado Mendez.
Salsa and science Shelley Cook (1995) describes her portfolio career
I didn’t set out to become a professional salsa dancer and teacher – it was simply a natural progression of a much-loved hobby. I first attended salsa dance lessons in Puerto Rico when I was collecting mosquito samples in order to study dengue fever outbreaks there. I found that dancing was a perfect way to de-stress after a long day in the lab, and in time my hobby became a vocation. The mosquito samples were part of the research I did while I was at Balliol, where I completed an MSc in Integrative Bioscience and a DPhil in Molecular Evolution; my research was focused on the emergence and maintenance of emerging tropical viruses and their mosquito vectors. When I left in 2005, I worked in investment banking, as a biotechnology investment analyst in the City. This allowed me to use my science on a daily basis and to learn about a wide range of cutting-edge life science technologies and their financing through the public markets. In 2007, I was tempted back into full-time research to work with Dr Ralph Harbach, a world expert in mosquitoes. I had met Dr Harbach through my DPhil at Balliol – he was one of my viva examiners – and that meeting led directly to the wonderful experience of nearly six years as a research scientist based at the Natural History Museum (NHM). I had the honour of receiving a Sir Henry Wellcome Post-doctoral award from the Wellcome Trust, which provided four years of funding to study emerging viruses in the tropics. Following my postdoc, I received funding directly from the NHM for a further year of research. I remain in close contact with Dr Harbach and even now we collaborate on publication and research projects. I have been lucky that all my employers have been incredibly supportive of my dancing. My employers in the City sponsored me and my dance partner at the time to enter the Salsa Dance World Championships in Las Vegas, where we achieved semi-final placings. 38
FLOREAT DOMUS MAY 2016
At the NHM, Dr Harbach supported me in an application to the Wellcome Trust to move to a four-day week, so that I could spend more time training for dance competitions and performances. Now, my husband and I run a dance school together and the fifth day of my working week is taken up with rehearsals, preparing choreographies and administration for the school, which is one of the largest salsa dance schools in the UK. Once a month or so, we travel to one of our regular European congress bookings, where we teach and perform, sharing the stage with the top salsa dancers worldwide. We have also made numerous TV and film appearances, which again have frequently been made possible by being able to work flexitime hours in a research or corporate position. Highlights have included performing on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, as part of the only pro-salsa team to demonstrate the dance on the show; appearing on the catwalk at Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model; being salsa consultants for Matilda the Musical; and making it through to the Judges’ Shortlist on Sky One’s Got to Dance, winning three gold stars. We are also credited feature dancers in the movie Cuban Fury. Filming that was particularly enjoyable, with the entire London salsa scene working together from 5.00am to midnight every night over a period of weeks. The atmosphere was incredible! Once of the aspects that I enjoy most about my dancing is the universally welcoming nature of the salsa scene; I can travel to any city on business or for research and make new friends there by dancing. Indeed I met my husband, who is Mexican, on the dance floor in Austria. It’s a very healthy lifestyle, especially when you are training to perform at professional level; and the music never fails to lift the spirit. But overall, the all-inclusive nature is for me the most rewarding part of dancing: on the