Milwaukee Recreation just hit a milestone: hosting its 20th annual Daddy/Daughter Dance.
It is a space for fathers, father figures, and their daughters from in and around Milwaukee to celebrate each other. They share a meal, take professional photos, and dance the night away.
The Daddy/Daughter Dance is typically hosted at North Division High School, but this year, the sold-out event took place at the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee last Saturday.
Creating a community space for dads and daughters in Milwaukee has long been a vision of Milwaukee Recreation.
And for 20 years, the annual Daddy/Daughter Dance has been that space.
The event has grown, moving from a high school cafeteria to a high school gym and now to a ballroom at the Baird Center to accommodate nearly 1,100 attendees.
Milwaukee Recreation Supervisor Jason Blocker says that growth is proof of the annual celebration’s impact.
"The daughters are having the time of their lives with their dads, and it’s, you know, memories that’ll last forever. So I think that’s what we wanted to do, and that’s the impact we’re giving here—when their daughter gets to be about 20 years old, she’ll never forget when she went to the Daddy/Daughter Dance," he says.
Inside the ballroom, dads and daughters crowded the dance floor.
I caught up with Delvante Tatum and his 3-year-old daughter, Shia, in the hallway as they took a break from dancing.
This was their first time at the Daddy/Daughter Dance.
"So far, so good. She only really started smiling on the dancefloor when we was Swag Surfin’ but that’s because I was holding her and rocking her, so it was on a rollercoaster. But we’re having a good time," he says.
Tatum adds that the event is an opportunity for him to share valuable one-on-one time with his daughter so she can feel like she gets all the love she needs from her dad.
Back inside the ballroom, it was time for the Daddy/Daughter dance-off.
The DJ played some new-school songs for the girls and old-school songs for the dads.
Daniel Hollowell and his 12-year-old daughter, Dailiana, said they’re thinking about starting a Daddy/Daughter Dance tradition.
This was their first time attending.
"You know, dads, we don’t get a lot of time because we’re always tryna provide, so you know we gotta take advantage of these opportunities that are out here for us to spend time with our daughters," Hollowell says. "So, I think that you know this is the most important thing is just finding that time and making it count."
Dailiana, who lives in California, explains why being at the dance with her dad matters to her. "Yeah, it’s really important to me because I only see my dad almost every, like, every summer, so it’s really important to me that I get to spend time with him."
Another dad, Robert Boyd Jr., emphasized the importance of quality time with his three daughters, Gina Mo’ney, Raquell, and Sabrina. They are 15, 12, and 5 years old.
They returned to the dance this year for the first time since 2020. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had attended the dance four years in a row.
"And this is a night where it ain’t just a regular night where they get to dress up, get their hair done, we put on clothes, and it’s not an average night; this is a big deal to me, honestly. That’s why I love the whole atmosphere. I love that it’s downtown now; this is a big change from when we was going. The 20th annual is amazing," he says.
This year, Boyd Jr. and his daughters dressed as characters from the Disney film The Princess and the Frog. The girls were all dressed as Princess Tiana, and their dad was dressed as Prince Naveen.
Boyd Jr.’s 15-year-old says the event was fun and that having personal time with her dad was the best part. His 5-year-old, Sabrina, says she most enjoyed dancing and singing. And she says she "kind of" dances better than her daddy.
You can bet that a lot of the daughters at the dance felt the same way.
