“I love to dance…I have been doing Punjabi dance for a very long time and it is a nice way to get involved with the community…one thing that really stands out to me…was the leadership aspect of it….we work with younger kids on skits about social pressures…it was not what I had ever experienced before in a dance school.

“She [Sonia] does a lot…I can not really explain it, there is a real big presence with her around…she really brings the best in us out…”

Ruby’s experience at the dance school was taken from an Interview with Shaw Cable during the 2005 Welcome Ceremony of the Tall Ships Event in downtown Victoria.

Ruby is a beautiful young lady whom speaks from her heart in an open, honest and with sincere respect for others. She has demonstrated throughout our practices incredible dedication and commitment – when she say’s she will be there you can trust the “gem” of a person. She arrives on time, always has attended practices on time and then sometimes will stay after to see if she can assist with cleanup. Many times I have had to console with her for her judgment on many decisions and behaviors. She has always taken a role where she looks at all sides of a decision and will then provide the right thing to do. She is a second generation senior who was part of the Punjaban Dance, which the younger students called the “teacher’s dance”. She has participated in three CHEK 6 TV Teen Talent Shows and during this dance, she without any hesitation when I asked for her assistance in dance, while I worked with one group of girls; she kept the others motivated while working on other dance steps. She too has been my right and/or left hand, during rehearsals for performances and particularly in preparation for the 2005 Tall Ships Event Welcome Ceremony. There was a dance Ruby performed in “Ek Kuri Punjaban” which involved a small skit; during that time she mentored a younger student to a role within that skit. She is happy I am sure to have that same younger student again perform with her during this event. She has spent nine amazing years at the school and was one of the first members of our Women of Distinction Nomination Committee, in which she nominated Dr. Sidney Price Sparling – We all love you! She is now in her final year at the University of Victoria.