Louisiana prison “father-daughter dance” restores family bonds and heals wounds

Leslie Harris missed most of the milestones in his daughter's life while serving a years-long sentence in Louisiana for armed robbery, and isn't likely to be released from prison until after prom, prom and maybe even a wedding.

But for one night at Louisiana's largest maximum security prison, Harris had his own moment with his 17-year-old daughter, donning a custom tuxedo and clutching a bouquet of roses: reuniting at the prison's first father-daughter dance, where they embraced to Stevie Wonder's “Isn't She Beautiful” at a hot pink party this month that went viral on social media.

“I just broke down seeing her in a dress, crying and running towards me,” Harris, who has nine years left on his sentence, said in a telephone interview from prison. Louisiana State Penitentiary. “It made me think about all the years I missed in her life.”

The chamber is the latest in the U.S. to host father-daughter dances, including one in Washington, D.C., that was featured in the Netflix documentary “Daughters” last year. In Louisiana, prison officials say the dance could become another tradition at a rural Louisiana prison. Angolawhere the country's last prison rodeo is held every October. It houses more than 6,300 inmates, including dozens of people on death row, and is on the same site where the notorious detention center was converted into an immigration detention center in September.

Assistant Warden Anne-Marie Easley said she hopes the dance will bring a sense of hope that can be elusive in jail where many are serving decades or life sentences. For some men, it was a chance to reunite with their daughters for the first time in months or even years—an opportunity to rebuild relationships and heal wounds. For others, it meant a night when they would be seen not as prisoners, but as a father.

The prison selected about 30 inmates to participate, among other reasons, for good behavior. Videos posted from the event showed fathers in tuxedos and pink boutonnieres breaking down in tears as their daughters in sparkly dresses ran up to them and squealed with excitement. They were reunited in the middle of a pink carpet strewn with petals, with light curtains hanging overhead. The prison's Bible college was equipped with a dance space.

The dance was choreographed by God Behind Bars, an organization that holds other reunion events and religious services in prisons across the country. In videos posted by the group before the dance, some inmates said they wanted to apologize for all the years they missed. Others called the dance the most important prison visit of their lives.

At the evening, the men surprised their daughters with a line dance after weeks of training. For Harris, the best moment was when he and his daughter slow danced to “Butterfly Kisses,” a song about a father's unconditional love for his daughter.

At that point, Harris said, memories came back from before prison, when his daughter was just two years old. How she slept on his chest, played with his hair and how he bought her a dress. Before the night was over, he gave her the Bible with the passages he had highlighted.

“At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about,” said Jake Bodine, founder of God Behind Bars. “Show these people who is counting on them, and once they understand the importance of this, they will take responsibility for change.”