Each week the elite junior dance competition team of the Abby Lee Dance Company from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, travel across the US to compete in an array of competitions and the girls are accompanied every step of the way by their moms, who describe themselves as 'dance moms' because of what I assume is their dedication to assuring their daughters succeed in the dance world.
One the face of it, Dance Moms is essentially a 'bitch-fest' between the moms of the child dancers and raspy voiced dance teacher tyrant Abby Lee Miller, who opened her own dance company at the tender age of 14. However, if you look below the surface there is actually a depth to the programme that is sadly ignored. There's this underlying tension each week between Abby and the moms who are constantly having arguments. The three main triggers for these arguments are: 'You shouted at my kid', 'Maddie has more privates than everyone else and that's not fair because the other haven't had as much of an opportunity to learn the dance' and 'why hasn't my child got a solo?' If you watch the show you'll understand what I'm talking about but essentially the girls aren't just competing against other dance companies, they are competing against each other and sometimes that gets really hard to watch.
Every episode of Dance Moms starts off with the unveiling of 'The Pyramid' which is the way Abby communicates her thoughts on individual's dancing from the previous week and the standard group number. One of the things you will learn very quickly about Abby Lee Miller is she is very rarely satisfied. She constantly threatens the girls with the possibility that they will be cut from the team if they don't dance better which literally makes shit all sense because they always win. Like I mean always. I would completely understand wanting to change the team around if they kept losing, but they don't, and so these poor girls are always left in a state of limbo which sometimes borders on cruel. Of course Abby justifies her actions which mainly include cutting numbers and shouting at children, by saying that these are just things these girls will learn to expect in the real world of dance and that all she's doing is preparing them, which makes sense to a certain degree. However, when you have a 12 year old looking so thoroughly unhappy every time they come to dance class because they are terrified of setting a foot wrong in case Miss Abby shouts at them and cuts them from the group number that week, someone needs to call time.
Now I know there are a lot of people reading this right now thinking 'but that's what you expect from reality TV, it's put on for the cameras, she isn't like that in real life' and I agree with those who think that to a point because of course there are elements of this programme that are edited to make it more exciting otherwise it would be everyone getting along and that would be dull as hell and the reality TV junkie ( me) thrives on conflict, but unlike other reality TV programmes Dance Moms is possibly the most 'real' I have ever seen. When the moms are interviewed in the costume closet (yeah I don't know why) about what is going on in the programme, they give some really truthful and correct insights into the dynamics of the group and what possibly causes things to be a certain way not just 'she's a bitch'. For example, ever since season one there has been a rivalry between Maddie and Chloe who are both exceptional dancers. However, Maddie has always slightly overtaken Chloe and is quite clearly Abby's prized dancer and quite rightly in some respects because she is breathtaking when she performs. Yet there have been many times when Chloe's mum Christi, has accused Abby of favoritism and giving Maddie and unfair advantage over Chloe which I would argue is true in some cases such as when she has given Maddie better choreography, nicer costumes, a dance she already knows or more time on her routine than Chloe. It's instances like these that make me shout at the TV because I just want to shake Abby and say 'these mums are paying for this!' which is ultimately what it comes down to, Abby is paid by the moms to teach their daughters.
Now to the dancing itself which varies from week to week really. Sometimes I love it other times I really just gawp at the screen thinking 'what the fuck?' See the thing is Abby has this sort of lust for obscure themes which she then tries to portray in her dances with varying levels of success. I still am slightly unsure of how a vertical leg stretch conveys the agony of poverty or how a Plié alerts young people to the dangers of illegal highs - I'll admit one thing, Abby is nothing if not ambitious in her choreography. Alongside the usually outstanding dancing, there is always Abby's arguably twisted mind games that she plays with these girls on a daily basis. She's constantly dropping and picking up favorites which leaves everyone in a state of permanent uncertainty. Abby herself has a very...lets say eccentric style, preferring to whack on a florescent plastic bargain store headband instead of the conventional gold or silver. There's also the issue of her hair and make up - it's varies really people but sometimes the blue, un-blended eye shadow, red lipstick and eyeliner that looks incomplete really just has me cringing. You're on a TV show Abby, sort it out love!
I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression of me as this sad loner who's whole world revolves around telly, I mean what would give you that impression? Dance Moms is merely a guilty pleasure of mine, one I indulge in regularly and I urge anyone with a weakness for entertaining American reality TV shows to join me in enjoying this gem which literally has everything you could want from this genre.
Now I know there are a lot of people reading this right now thinking 'but that's what you expect from reality TV, it's put on for the cameras, she isn't like that in real life' and I agree with those who think that to a point because of course there are elements of this programme that are edited to make it more exciting otherwise it would be everyone getting along and that would be dull as hell and the reality TV junkie ( me) thrives on conflict, but unlike other reality TV programmes Dance Moms is possibly the most 'real' I have ever seen. When the moms are interviewed in the costume closet (yeah I don't know why) about what is going on in the programme, they give some really truthful and correct insights into the dynamics of the group and what possibly causes things to be a certain way not just 'she's a bitch'. For example, ever since season one there has been a rivalry between Maddie and Chloe who are both exceptional dancers. However, Maddie has always slightly overtaken Chloe and is quite clearly Abby's prized dancer and quite rightly in some respects because she is breathtaking when she performs. Yet there have been many times when Chloe's mum Christi, has accused Abby of favoritism and giving Maddie and unfair advantage over Chloe which I would argue is true in some cases such as when she has given Maddie better choreography, nicer costumes, a dance she already knows or more time on her routine than Chloe. It's instances like these that make me shout at the TV because I just want to shake Abby and say 'these mums are paying for this!' which is ultimately what it comes down to, Abby is paid by the moms to teach their daughters.
Now to the dancing itself which varies from week to week really. Sometimes I love it other times I really just gawp at the screen thinking 'what the fuck?' See the thing is Abby has this sort of lust for obscure themes which she then tries to portray in her dances with varying levels of success. I still am slightly unsure of how a vertical leg stretch conveys the agony of poverty or how a Plié alerts young people to the dangers of illegal highs - I'll admit one thing, Abby is nothing if not ambitious in her choreography. Alongside the usually outstanding dancing, there is always Abby's arguably twisted mind games that she plays with these girls on a daily basis. She's constantly dropping and picking up favorites which leaves everyone in a state of permanent uncertainty. Abby herself has a very...lets say eccentric style, preferring to whack on a florescent plastic bargain store headband instead of the conventional gold or silver. There's also the issue of her hair and make up - it's varies really people but sometimes the blue, un-blended eye shadow, red lipstick and eyeliner that looks incomplete really just has me cringing. You're on a TV show Abby, sort it out love!
I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression of me as this sad loner who's whole world revolves around telly, I mean what would give you that impression? Dance Moms is merely a guilty pleasure of mine, one I indulge in regularly and I urge anyone with a weakness for entertaining American reality TV shows to join me in enjoying this gem which literally has everything you could want from this genre.
