Shelby Buckley was born and raised in Farmington, Missouri. She began dancing at age three and continued dancing for fifteen years in the Farmington area. In the beginning, Miss Shelby did not want to attend ballet and tap; not until she watched the older girls tumbling at her first recital. Her mom recalls that Shelby, with stars in her eyes, said “I want to do that!”. Her mom added tumbling class the following year and the rest is history. During Shelby’s time growing up her teams won numerous adjudications for highest scoring routines, opened for professional acts in Branson, and received many national titles. However, the greatest gift she received from dancing was the lifelong friendships she made.  

Miss Shelby is a graduate of Farmington High School where she cheered and danced on Knightline. She then attended Lindenwood University and completed her bachelor’s degree in international business. While at Lindenwood, Shelby participated in dance classes as a hobby and began taking yoga classes. She then attended The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and completed her MBA.  

For five years she worked in the corporate world for Fortune 100 companies. Shelby soon decided to take a step back from the corporate world and return to her first love, dancing and tumbling. She began teaching at a studio near her home and has since decided to also join the faculty at Ignite School of Dance. Miss Shelby specializes in acro-dance and tumbling, but also teaches various styles of dance. She is also an avid yogi and loves hot yoga flow.  

Miss Shelby is well versed in body mechanics and muscle development; due to a connective tissue disorder she works to overcome in her everyday life. She strives to educate her students about the physics of dance and muscular structure within their bodies, because the safety and health of dancers and acrobats is her biggest goal in the classroom. Miss Shelby also believes that dance and acrobatics teach students life skills that carry over into their everyday life. Dedication to self, and your team, fosters the mentality to always strive to be better than you were the day before and never give up. Her coaching style is one of positive reinforcement and identifying strengths within her students to build upon.  

Currently, Miss Shelby lives in O’Fallon, Missouri with her husband Thomas, and their three “fur babies”, Quincy, Minka, and Ricky.  She likes to say that she has many “side quests”. She does watercolor painting, officiates weddings, consults for supply chain projects, loves to cook, and is an avid gardener. Miss Shelby says that she is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Her greatest accomplishment is seeing the joy and excitement in her young dancers when they perform a new skill or achieve a feat, they did not think they could. Her goal is to make sure that dancers do not lose their passion for dance and continue to dance their whole lives!