Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Dads, daughters celebrate Valentine’s Day at school dance

Father-Daughter Dance

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Home News

Hannah Gunderson, 6, receives a lift in the air while dancing with her father, Jerry, during the Father-Daughter Valentine’s Day Dance on Friday at Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain.

Father-Daughter Dance

Lily Pellegrini, 9, enjoys a slow dance with her father, Luciano, at the Father-Daughter Valentine's Day Dance at Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain on Friday. Launch slideshow »

As the well-known song's first notes rang out, fathers - many dressed in suits and ties – were pulled by the hand to the dance floor by their pint-sized dates to pretend to flap their wings and shake their tail feathers to the tune of the "Chicken Dance."

In honor of Cupid's upcoming holiday, the Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain hosted its first Father/Daughter Valentine's Day Dance on Friday.

The event was open to girls in preschool through eighth grade, all of the grade levels served by the school, and their fathers.

"We were trying to find ways to get dads more involved with the school so we came up with this idea," said the president of Dawson Parent Association, LeeAnn Inadomi.

Father Mark Hansen, who brought his three young girls to the dance, took the evening as an opportunity not only to spend some quality time with his daughters, but also to set an example.

"It's a great opportunity to dance with them and show them how they should be treated on a date," he said with a laugh.

One of his daughters, Denise, said she the most fun she had so far that night was dancing to "Let's Go Surfing Now" by the Beach Boys.

For the slower tunes like Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable," a lot of the fathers of the younger girls picked them up to move together to the music.

Among them was Joey Adashek who swayed with his little girl Sydney, a kindergartner, to a number of the songs.

"I think it's awesome. This is the best thing ever," he said. "She was so excited … she has been talking about it for like a month."

Sydney, who was decked out for the occasion with a red flower in her curled hair and sparkly new red shoes, said she was having fun dancing and that she liked all of the pink and red decorations.

Father Roger Pich said he wasn't having much luck getting his sixth-grade daughter Kelsi on the dance floor, but that they were having a great time anyway.

"We don't' really get to spend a lot of time together, so this is nice," he said.

Ashley Livingston can be reached at 990-8925 or [email protected]

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