The love of ballroom dance not only expands our personal horizons of what we can do but it enlarges our circle of friends with whom we share our appreciation. One very special friend of ballroom and of our dance society was Wayne Hodgson.

A graduate of Mount Douglas Senior Secondary, he was a local boy that, like many of us, discovered dancing later in life. In ballroom dance, he found what he loved and took every opportunity to share that love with others, helping with the music, hosting of the dances and helping to stage the club’s premier competition, Dance Pacifica.

He was an ambassador for dancing wherever he went. He developed his love of being a dance host around town into becoming a host on cruise ships and, as always, sharing his experiences with his many friends in the Victoria Ballroom Dance Society. He was featured in an article in the Globe and Mail in his role as a dance host on the world’s leading cruise ships

He loved to dance and he loved to introduce people to ballroom dance. Wayne was known as Shiny Shoes to a lot of women because he always wore patent leather shoes on the cruise ships and he was always the gentleman to dance with new immigrant dancers. Sadly, we lost a wonderful and true friend when, in 2012, Wayne passed away at 64. To the end, Wayne was concerned for the society that had made ballroom dancing so accessible for him and left a financial bequest to enhance the music and dancing of the society.

Funding for this website was made possible, in part, from Wayne’s endowment.

Thank you Wayne, we know, wherever you are, you are still dancing with those shiny shoes!