I Am A Dance Dad

By Colin Davies

I’ve finally come to terms with a label I hadn’t heard until five years ago… I am a “Dance Dad”.

I grew up in a world knowing nothing about dance. I grew up playing soccer, baseball, and building anything out of anything. My parents ran my brother and me from sports practices to games every day for years. This is on top of trying to keep track of their twin boys’ next adventures and when the two of us might make our way back home.

Now fast forward to five years ago when my oldest daughter took her first “Mommy and Me” dance class. My wife was in heaven to have her daughter follow in her dancing footsteps. Me, I was not so sure what kind of world I was getting into.

Since my wife and I work shift work, there were days I got to be the “mommy” in the Mommy and Me class. I was more intimidated and unsure of how to handle this situation then anything else I had ever encountered up to this point. So I put on a brave face and braced myself for any possible embarrassing situations that were coming my way because I knew how much my little girl loved to dance.

I have always wanted to be involved in my daughters’ lives as much as I can but their lives revolve around DANCE. Nothing makes them happier to dance morning, noon, and night. Not one day will go by in our house without a dance party happening. Although I’ve had five years of practice and two daughters in classes, this dance world is still unfamiliar to me as it is, for the most part, a “mother/daughter” world.

Personally, I need to be doing something almost all the time and with my girls dancing upwards of six hours a week, it’s an eternity for me to sit and wait for the girls to come out of class. At times, there are conversations held in the back rooms that no “dance dad” should ever hear (AKA girl talk) so I feel a little unsure of where my place is while I wait for the girls. I don’t want to make any of the dancers or mothers feel restricted in what conversations they have so unfortunately, this is just one more thing that keeps me apart from this female-dominated dance world.

Sometimes there is the odd project needing done around the studio or a dance prop needing built and I am more then HAPPY to help out! It’s kind of the way I feel a connection to the dance world my girls are in.

During competition season is when I am the most proud of my girls and their dancing. The way Pure Motion choreographs the different dances is amazing to me. And somehow, these teachers have enough creative energy left over for the Year End Showcase!! For me, hardly getting to see my girls in class to all of sudden performing on stage is an incredible feeling. To see their confidence, skill, and seeing the joy and love for dance on their faces means a lot to me.

I am a “Dance Dad” and I couldn’t be more proud of being one to my two girls.