Bruce Pinto-Jaco with his dance partner Lolly Brown

TRIBUTES have been paid to a “warm” and “passionate” dancer who died in a park in Mornington Crescent, aged 43.

Bruce Pinto-Jaco, a ballroom dance instructor and former dancer at the Camden Town store Cyberdog, was found in Harrington Square Gardens around August 12.

He had been formerly homeless in his life but had accommodation in Brixton.

The Met police said there is no criminal investigation surrounding his death. Mr Pinto-Jaco was a “very chatty” and “warm, loving person” who loved hard house and techno.

He was born in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, and moved to Cape Town when he was 16 and then came to London in his early twenties. He devoted his life to his Christian faith and dancing. He also trained as a plumber.

In 2015 he worked at Cyberdog, dancing on the podium on weekends. He was a regular at the Frantic club nights at Koko.

And he could often be seen preaching about Jesus on the streets, playing a Shofar – an ancient musical horn.

Lana Lee-Cooke, Mr Pinto-Jaco’s longterm friend from South Africa, told the New Journal: “He was so chuffed as a guy who was born in a small town in Johannesburg to come to London on his own and to make it in London and to dance at a place as huge as Cyberdog in a place as worldwide as Camden.

“South Africans, the way they talk about London, everybody wants to go to London and make it and Bruce did it.”

Mr Pinto-Jaco at Cyberdog in Camden Market

His former dance partner at Cyberdog, Lolly Brown, said she was “shocked” when she heard the news. They used to dance on either podium at the shop for 20 minutes, with a 10 minute break, every weekend starting at 12pm and finishing at 6.30pm. They wore matching outfits, usually white and blue.

She said: “He was very chatty, he was a warm loving person, he spoke about his son dearly, he was really into going to techno parties and things like that.

“He was really into his dancing. He put his heart and soul into it. He was really fit. We had a real laugh dancing together as friends. “He was one of those people dancing-wise I really gelled with. He put on a really great performance for the customers that came into the shop. “When he used to dance you could tell his roots were in ballroom dancing by some of the moves he did.”

Other co-workers recalled how Mr Pinto-Jaco taught one of them to ballroom dance with a speaker by the side of the River Thames, which “sums Bruce up beautifully”. Ms Brown said her first memory of Mr Pinto-Jaco was when they spoke over a break.

She recalled: “My first memory is of him telling me of how he had been homeless for six months before. It amazed me, his honesty, and his story of how he really got his life back together. It was September he was sleeping on a piece of cardboard and he thought ‘winter is coming and it’s going to be miserable’.

“He was describing that when you’re homeless you walk along the street and you see cardboard and you think ‘wow that would make a great bed’ and he thought ‘that’s it’ and he turned his life around. He would tell me about his life and how he was recovering. I just thought ‘wow this is a really brave man’.”

Mr Pinto-Jaco enjoying a club night at Koko

A tribute DJ set will be held at Cyberdog by Zillin Redeker in memory of Mr Pinto-Jaco on September 21 from 3-5pm.

His family friend from back home Lizette Maritz said: “Bruce was a very passionate person. Passionate about his family, about his friends, he became very passionate about body boarding. He was always in the ocean. My fondest memories of him and most importantly he really loved the Lord very dearly. He was a really genuine guy.”

A celebration of life will be held tomorrow (Friday) at 10.15am at the Islington Crematorium. All are welcome to join.