Confessions Of A Dance Dad (The Friday Ficks S5 E10)

I’m a Dance Dad. There. I said it.

And I own it.

Growing up, my world revolved around playing baseball and football. Later, I added some college rugby into the mix. Sports were my jam.

Then, life threw me a curveball - my daughters became competitive dancers. Competitive dancing, and a lot of it, was their jam.

I never saw that coming.

Their passion took me everywhere - high school auditoriums, convention centers, theaters, and casinos across Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey. I sat through early mornings, late nights, endless rehearsals, and countless recitals.

Some people pitied me. “Man, that must suck,” they’d say.

Really? Because it wasn’t a baseball or football game?

What I saw on those stages from all the competitors was nothing short of extraordinary.

Tenacity. Grit. Dedication. Talent. Sacrifice. Focus. Resilience. Grace. Teamwork. Creativity. Athleticism. Discipline.

How could that possibly suck?

The French philosopher Voltaire said, “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

That’s exactly how I feel about my Dance Dad journey. I learned to appreciate something I never expected to, and in doing so, I grew. I saw excellence in a place I never thought to look.

And that’s the challenge for all of us - keeping your eyes open to the excellence that exists in the unlikeliest of places.

You might just be surprised at what you find.

Own the day. Own the weekend.

Carl