Stayz Raukawa made salsa dancing a big deal in Wanganui in the early 2000s, then took it to Picton and further afield. He's bringing it back with the Star Dance Academy national camp in the city from July 6 to 12.
Mr Raukawa was a YMCA youth co-ordinator when he created and developed the YMCA dance programme in Wanganui. When he left in 2007, his students Marie Louise and Petera Hudson carried on the dance tradition, with their Salsa on the Awa.
Mr Raukawa still has family in Wanganui. He said he has returned every year, to take his two boys to Kowhai Park "the one and only, the best free playground in the world".
He now lives in Picton with his wife Larissa and two boys.
Since leaving Wanganui, he's started and grown his Star Dance Academy business into a national and international dance school franchise. This year, he's bringing its Star National Camp to his home city during the first week of the school holidays. Doing so has been a dream since the day he left, he said.