What age were you when you started ballroom dancing?

I was 14 and as I grew up in the country, East Gippsland, Victoria, and out there that was sort of the thing that you did. You went to the local hall to learn to dance because that's what you parents or grandparents did. They normally dragged you along, but I took it a bit further than most.

There was a dance once a week on a Saturday evening. After that I ended up going to dance classes. After I finished university I took it up more seriously in Melbourne. I've had several teachers over the years, including some interesting ones. Some would throw shoes at you for being out of step, others CD covers.

What is your favourite dance?

It's difficult for me to choose between the waltz and the tango despite, or perhaps because, they are such different animals. The waltz is quite sad as far as emotion is concerned, while the tango is very aggressive.

How long have you been with your dance partner and how did you meet?

I've been dancing with Monica for nine years. I originally had a partner for one year, but she was hopeless. One of my teachers suggested I find another partner and they teamed me up with a few for try outs and Monica seemed to be the one I worked with best.

What makes the partnership?

We give and take from one another in the same amount.

So how did you go at the Australian Championships?

We came fourth this year in the New Vogue section, which wasn't too bad. New Vogue is sequence ballroom dancing.

What is your most unforgettable dancing memory?

Probably when we came fourth in the world in 2004 at the world New Vogue championships in Melbourne. We've also won the Australian championships twice and the South Pacific championships twice, as well as a number of state titles. 

Have you danced overseas?

We went to England for four months in 2003 and trained over there with some of the world's leading ballroom coaches. It was an interesting experience, learning from people that are the world leaders at what they do as they have ballroom down to a science, as well as an art. Rather than take a macro view they have worked out that millimetres make a difference and that grams of pressure make a difference.

Is there much bitchiness among the dancers?

A horrendous amount, monumental. Dancing mothers are the worst in the world for being bitchy. It's all, "my child should have done this, my child is better than that child". It's like showing a cat or a dog. 

Has anybody tried to trip you up?

Occasionally, but after 10 years you learn how to become the problem for other people. You learn tactics on how to block people and stop people doing what they want to do. I'm not a very pleasant person to compete against.

Where do you see yourself in your dancing career now?

We are towards the end of it and probably won't dance for more than two to three years now. Adjudicating and coaching is the next step.

We are both accredited through the Australian Dancing Society and the Federal Association of Teachers of Dance as coaches as well as being adjudicators for Dance Sport Australia and also run our own studio and have our own students.

Anything you particularly don't like about dancing?

Wedding couples. While TV's Dancing for the Stars has been good for dancing as a whole, all wedding couples now want some huge choreographed number to look like something off the show. They think something that has taken hundreds of hours of training can be taught in a couple of hours, and of course it can't. 

Collecting and maintaining classic cars couldn't be more different from ballroom dancing could it?

My grandfather was a retired mechanic and he was fanatical about British motoring, so it was bred into me. I grew up pulling them apart and putting them back together. I enjoy the technical aspect and have several engines that I am rebuilding at the moment.

I've actually just bought another two cars in the last couple of weeks - a 1956 Rover 90 and a 1967-69 Rover P5B - so in total I have seven now. I'd have to say the 1977 Jaguar XJ6 is my favourite. The reason I bought it is the year I was born and the fact it is fire engine red. I'd also like to buy a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow number two.

Does the competitive nature of the dancing and the almost cathartic nature of rebuilding the cars even each other out?

While both work and dancing involve working with other people all the time, working on the cars is very personal and very solo, it's an escape. I can disappear from everybody else and come back greasy.

Why did you get into financial services?

Because when I went to university it was the safe and right thing to do. I'm now one of the project consultants for self-managed super funds and have been at Financial Synergy for six-and-a-half years.

What ties the three things together?

The ability to problem solve and be pragmatic. For example, if I don't know how to do something here at work I've got to find a way round it to get it fixed. Same way if there is something wrong with the car, I may have to make a temporary measure to get myself home and likewise when you are teaching you have to have various solutions to teaching someone how to dance, as not everyone can do the same things.