Crystal Wise
Local TCU student, dance enthusiast, and ghost tour guide, Betty Grace, says she hasn’t sat still since she was 3 years old. Not wanting this gift of energy to go to waste, Grace’s parents placed her in ballet at 11, an art form she stuck with longer than many of her peers. In fact, dance has been such a major part of Grace’s identity that she currently studies modern dance at TCU and teaches aspiring dancers at the Dance Connection, a Fort Worth studio.
Despite partaking in the schedule of a busy college student and dance instructor — going to class, having a social life, and practicing form and movements — Grace manages to find the time to write original music for an upcoming EP release and serve as a US Ghost Adventures tour guide in the historic Stockyards. With so much to juggle and passion to spare, Grace embodies the essence of what makes the great city of Fort Worth so artistically diverse.
“I moved [to Fort Worth] my sophomore year of college, but I have family here. So, I’ve been coming [to this city] since I was born,” Grace says. “I love the culture, the cowboys, and going to Billy Bob’s. [It’s great] seeing line dancing in-person and joining in.”
Crystal Wise
Though she enjoys the Stockyards for its nightlife and intentional Western flair, she’s also deeply invested in its history. Currently, Grace is one of several tour guides for US Ghost Adventures across the nation, which offers groups of attendees the chance to experience the supernatural while learning about the history of a certain city or area. Her tour takes a deep dive into the seedy characters of this once-wild area, where the spirits of many a famous outlaw reportedly linger.
“I knew the Stockyards were probably haunted, but after doing some research for this job, I can pinpoint who those spirits belong to and the acts they did when they were still living,” Grace says. “Now I know that Bonnie and Clyde stayed at a hotel here and who all of the famous outlaws that lived and unfortunately died here were.”
But what really gets her excited is hearing other people from her tours tell their own ghost stories after the tour is done.
“Many times, people will tell me that they have seen a ghost in the house they are currently living in, like literally in the pantry,” she says with a grin. “That makes this tour so special because I get to hear these personal stories, and being able to talk to people in that way has been really great.”
While Grace wears a lot of hats — dancer, student, tour guide, and even a cowboy hat for good measure — her true passion is music, and she eventually wants to take to the road as a professional singer-songwriter.
“My dream is to be a touring musician and then use dance as part of my show,” she says. “I would love to do a mixed show, where I get to do a cool dance scene and then play some songs.”
Grace describes her music as a folk guitar-based style that has a bit of a Phoebe Bridgers tinge to it. “I absolutely draw from personal experience as my muse,” she says. “The main things I’ve been focusing on songwriter-wise is talking about trauma and how it stays in you, and, of course, love songs because they are so fun to write.”
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From the Feed
- At the TCU dance senior photoshoot.
- Hosting a US Ghost Adventures tour at the Stockyards.
- Performing at Opening Bell Coffee Shop.
- In ballet class at TCU.
- Students perform a dance piece Grace choreographed last semester.
- From her upcoming single "Eidolon" release.
- The Taylor Swift Society student organization at TCU.
Crystal Wise
Top 5 Singer-Songwriters:
- Taylor Swift
- Phoebe Bridgers
- Julien Baker
- Lucy Dacus
- Conan Gray
