The Him & Me Father-Daughter Dance puts the focus on helping dads connect with their daughters

By Mary Malik

Cultivating strong relationships between fathers and daughters is the mission of Him & Me, a initiative founded by LaToyia Jones to address the importance for girls to grow to be strong women and for men to experience the privilege of becoming proud fathers.

“When girls are raised with a strong father or male figure in their lives, it changes everything for both of them,” LaToyia says. “As a result of another organization I launched, Alive on Purpose, to address suicide in African American girls, I discovered that many were experiencing depression as a result of the absence of fathers in their lives. in 2012, an alarming statistic was 63% of all suicides came from young people in homes without fathers. Another statistic showed us that 28% of all African American girls came from homes without fathers.”

Through Alive on Purpose, LaToyia learned that the father-daughter connection is critical for girls to feel safe, secure and loved—and fathers need to understand the importance of their roles in their daughters’ lives. So LaToyia launched the Him & Me Father-Daughter initiative in 2013 to help reinforce this bond.

“The Father-Daughter Dance is a way for girls to connect with their father or father figure in a fun and active way, and dads can experience the impact they have,” LaToyia says. “Our signature event, the father and daughter dance is full of music, dancing, laughter and every kid-related activity you can imagine. But the underlying theme, of course, is to help develop and nurture that father-daughter connection and they are experiencing that in real time at the dance.”

LaToyia reports that the Him & Me Father-Daughter Dance has a 70% return rate on attendees each year and there’s no age limit. Dads and daughters attend the dance from infancy to adulthood. And LaToyia stresses that this is not just for biological fathers. Any man raising girls is welcome.

“This connection is lifelong, and fathers and daughters need to continue to be intentional about having conversations and expressing their needs,” LaToyia says. “We are giving them the tools to do that.”

Him & Me accomplishes this through the Father-Daughter Dance, but also through media campaigns, workshops and other activities that support and strengthen this connection.

One of the media campaigns Him & Me produced, “I Love You Because…,” interviewed fathers and daughters and their responses as they finished this statement.

“This was so emotional for the dads,” LaToyia says. “They were hearing their girls express what they love about them. And it often was something very simple like, ‘you make me pancakes.’ But there’s something about the intentionality of saying it and creating that moment to allow dads to say it, too. They were learning how to express their feelings and seeing just how important the smallest gestures are to their girls. So, keep making those pancakes.”

Him & Me also conducts pop-ups in the community with the goal of meeting the fathers where they are and allowing them to work on their relationships through fun and intentional activities for both dads and daughters.

“We’ll go to places that are father friendly locations and conduct a workshop and then everyone plays golf and has some father-daughter bonding time,” LaToyia says. “We want to offer information and techniques to help dads to become better and to really engage and learn to connect and anticipate their daughters needs and respond appropriately. We want to push them beyond even the traditional father role and see how important it is to start young, but also to know it’s never too late and the father-daughter dance is a great place to start.”

And the Him & Me Father-Daughter Dance is so much more than just a dance.

“It’s one more way we’re teaching men how to raise children,” LaToyia says. “Men are never really taught that. We’re having that conversation, teaching men their worth and the importance of supporting daughters and mom, too. That’s why we get out into the community to mix and mingle instead of sitting in a stuffy conference room. Let’s have some fun. We’re the cool kids.”

This year, the Him & Me Father-Daughter Dance will be held on Sunday, August 6, from 4-9 p.m., at Windows on the River, 2000 Sycamore St. in Cleveland. Get ready for dinner and dancing to two DJs, photo booths, food vendors, balloon art, caricature drawings and so much more.

“The space is full of activities,” LaToyia says. “It’s a jam-packed evening of fun, dancing and connecting for daughters and dads. We’re creating a movement here. Come join us.”

For ticket information and more details about Him & Me, check the website HimAndMeDance.com and find them on Facebook and Instagram.