Reality television. The Housewives, Love Island, and Survivor have captivated audiences for decades. They often offer intense drama, often scripted, that can keep the watcher tuned in for hours. I have seen my fair share of reality TV over the years, but none have stood out to me as much as Dance Moms.
Dance Moms offers a glimpse into the life of competitive dancing through the experience of dancers at the Abby Lee Dance Company (ALDC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The studio is run by the strict, and sometimes outright insane, Abby Lee Miller. Miller likes to yell at and berate her dancers as well as their often bickering mothers.
The mothers are always yelling at Abby for her treatment of the girls. They are shown sitting in a glass encased suite at the top of the studio where they can watch their girls dance. The moms often fight with each other about who is the better dancer and who should be at the top of the pyramid.
The pyramid is Abby’s ranking system. The girl at the top of the pyramid is the best and whoever is at the bottom is the worst. Abby often ranks the girls based on their performance in the group dances and how their solos place. The solos are only given to certain people. Maddie, who is often referred to as the favorite, received the most solos, and Chloe was a close second. For seasons one through four, they were neck and neck for the top spot.
Like the name suggests, the show focuses more on the moms and not on the dances. The audience is given almost every detail about the moms’ personal lives, and we know the drama between each of them. My personal favorite drama occurred between Melissa, mom to Maddie and Mckenzie, and Christi, mom to Chloe. Jill, mom to Kendall, would also often chime in with some dramatic parts.
My favorite dance mom was Dr. Holly Hatcher Frazier. I used her full name because she was the best mom on the show and can not be topped. Her daughter was Nia. She was a very good dancer, in my opinion, but I think that Abby never developed her full potential. She was a great dancer, as shown through “Getting Away With Murder” and her Maya Angelou solos. She also played the part of Rosa Parks very well in the group dance, but she was often underdeveloped because she was not Maddie.
The show aired for eight seasons and had many spin-off shows. It has been a staple in pop cultures and has been the source of many memes. I don’t think that it will be going away anytime soon.
