Our joyful journey is being rewarded by rapturous applause!
When my daughter Alexandrina asked me to join Dad Dancing I was sceptical on two counts, first I had not danced for nearly 30 years and second I was not sure that dads dancing was a spectacle that should be encouraged let alone promoted.
Nevertheless I agreed and I am delighted that I did so.
Not only have I enjoyed the journey I have also gained in many ways. I have gained time with my daughter, shared our experiences, enjoyed each other’s company and made new friends. I have become fitter, more alert and more conscious of other peoples space and feelings. I have also gained a new sense of pride.
On top of all this there is now the applause at the end of each Show. For which we dads must applaud our daughters for their courage in caring, cajoling, commanding and choreographing our moves, matching them to music, challenging our abilities, encouraging greater expression and finally smiling when we got things right. And as all dads appreciate an appreciative smile, from a daughter, is praise indeed.
Our daughters have also brought together, worked with and created another hugely important and enjoyable element to the Show. The Supporting Cast. Recruited locally, with the help of the Battersea Arts Centre, these, dads, daughters, mums and sons bring extra energy and enthusiasm which has an extraordinary effect.
Not only do they share their details of their relationships with their dads but when they join in dance sequences and display their moves they also bring and share a whole new level of happiness and joy that touches and involves the audience to the point where they too want to join in and share the pleasure. At the end of the Show I am not sure who is applauding the loudest, the dads, the daughters, the supporting cast or the audience.
However, I do know it feels very, very special.
Written by David Hemsley, October 2014
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