Marc Daniels now officially is a star in the parenting world, leading some to even call him a “Daderina”. But just what did Marc Daniels do to earn him such credit? Well, it all started at his daughter’s ballet dress rehearsal …
Standing beside the other small dancers, Daniels’s two-year-old daughter Isabella found herself overwhelmed with emotions. Perhaps this young toddler was experiencing her first bout of stage fright. Unable to perform, Isabella found herself curled up on the floor, crying, instead of dancing alongside her friends. From off stage, her father tried unsuccessfully to console her. A highly toned barrister from Bermuda, Daniels found he was ill-equipped to handle the meltdown from backstage. He knew he needed to take further action.
He needed to go to his little girl, and that is exactly what he did. Amongst all those young ballerinas, Daniels went to stand beside his upset daughter. He even began performing the dance moves, all in an attempt to make his daughter feel more at home on stage.
Of course, our dancing dad did this while also holding his baby. With mom helping out backstage, Daniels had his arms full, but that didn’t stop him from embracing the toddler meltdown with grace and style. While holding his baby, he managed to twirl, pirouette, and move right along with Isabella’s dancing instructor.
The only thing missing from making this the perfect father-daughter dance was the matching tutus. In truth, the crowd ate up all the cuteness of this dad encouraging his toddler ballerina. In fact, someone was so impressed they put it up on social media, where the cuteness only spread.
According to our dancing dad, “Bella was very emotional and needed hugs from her daddy. Despite having a tantrum, I can tell she wanted to stay on stage. I didn’t want to discourage her before the big performance by making her be the only one to come off.”
Daniels did not allow Isabella to become discouraged. Instead, he allowed her to face her fears and complete her goal of dancing on stage. To Daniels, this was not an act of heroism but simply a normal occasion for a father to do his part in encouraging his daughter.
Daniels told Independent, “Jurors, police officers and members of the prosecution have even been giving me twirls and plies as a token of appreciation for the video. Even in court the other day, one of the magistrates made a comment about my moves that prompted the court to erupt in laughter.”
And, as Daniels says, it’s never too late to become something you’ve never been before. “Before having the girls I don’t think I’d ever attempted any ballet moves before, but now everyone in Bermuda knows me for my toe-pointing—maybe it’s never too late to become a ballerina,” he aptly teased to The Sun.
What do you think about this story? How far would you go to ease your toddler’s stage fright? Share this with a dad you know would do this, or with a friend to put a smile on their face!