Cinderella theme makes for magical night at Grapevine daddy-daughter dance

Good friends Tyler Dickson, Josh Coburn and Tony Steele have a lot in common, including working over the years for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and daddies to one young son and one young daughter.

Both job and family came into play on Jan. 28 when the three fathers came with their young princesses to the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance hosted by the parks and recreation department. The event featured Cinderella’s Royal Ball.

The three danced most of the evening with their daughters — plus one niece — stopping only to eat.

Justin resident Dickson, who escorted his 9-year-old daughter Peyton, said it was all about “quality time with your daughter.”

Peyton, a fourth-grader, said she loved dressing up in a blue gown like Cinderella “because she’s pretty and I like the color of her dress.” But she mostly liked “spending time with my daddy.”

Coburn, of Keller, said he escorted daughter Macie, 11, “because I love her.”

The fifth-grader returned the compliment, saying, “I like being with my friends and I like the music but most of all I love to hang out with my daddy.”

Parks manager Steele said he looks forward every year to escorting daughter Alaina, 12, to the annual dance.

“It’s our tenth one,” Steele said. “I’ve been taking her since she was two. I love taking her. That’s what a daddy’s supposed to do.”

He also escorted niece Penelope Doria, 10, a fourth-grader from Denton, who said she was having a “fun” time.

Alaina was wearing a new pink dress she picked out the week before on a shopping trip with her grandmother.

“I like the color,” the sixth-grader said, adding that “I like to dance and have fun with my daddy. I’m daddy’s little girl.”

Two other friends and their daughters, Justin Roberts with 4-year-old Georgia, and Camron Harris with 3-year-old daughter Reagan, said their families are close because they work together in a public accounting firm and have children nearly the same age. They said they loved finding a new way to spend time withe their daughters.

Reagan, who wore a pink gown, said her favorite part of the night was dancing to Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off.

There were three dances, one on Friday and two on Saturday held at the Compass Center. Randy Sell, lake parks and events manager, said all three dances sold out their 500 spots two weeks after the event was posted.

The red carpet and huge toy soldiers out front led to a magical evening that included actors portraying Cinderella, the prince, the evil stepmother and two ugly stepsisters — all who danced with the girls ages 2-18. There were booths to make lip sync videos, to make crafts such a wands and tiaras, to take photos with specialty backdrops, to get hairstyles with glitter and to make glitter jewelry skin decals. Limo rides were an added bonus.

Professional dancers taught the dads and daughters how to move, with Cyndi Dorber of A Dance withe Me studio saying,”The dads try so hard. The little girls don’t care about the steps. They just want to be in their daddy’s arms.”

April Rogers, events production manager for the city, said most of the decorations and adornments were bought from a crafts store after Christmas at a 75 percent discount.

“They payoff is seeing the girl’s and dad’s reactions,” Rogers said. “It’s the most precious thing ever.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Cinderella theme makes for magical night at Grapevine daddy-daughter dance."