Dance Moms

Dance Moms

They started with eight.  Now only five remain.  Out there lives a world where it’s one against many, and everybody fights for themselves.  They fight for their life and career.  You can’t care about anyone else, or you won’t survive.  This world lives in one reality tv show.  This world is Dance Moms.

If you have ever watched this show you would know that Abby Miller is the ruler of the dance studio.  The dancers must attend several hours a day.  Sometimes from early morning hours until late into the evening.  There is no time for public school.  Most of them must be homeschooled.  At this studio hundreds of young girls and boys someday hope to perform on Broadway.  I’m going to introduce you to the girls that the show is all about.  They are also known as “The Originals.”  

Some of you may know Maddie Ziegler from Sia’s famous music videos.  She is the dancer in the song “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart.”  Maddie is currently 12 years old.  Although, she began dancing at age two.  She is definitely Abby’s favorite at the studio.  She gets the most solos because she is, in my opinion, the best dancer.  Her mom, Melissa, is on the show just as much as Maddie.  Melissa causes all kinds of drama with the other moms.

Maddie has also made guest appearances on Drop Dead Diva, Austin and Ally, Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Dancing with the Stars, and Good Morning America.  She has her own fashion line, and she models when she isn’t dancing.

Maddie also has a younger sister, Mackenzie Ziegler.  Mackenzie is ten years old.  Outside the show, Mackenzie doesn’t dance with the Elite Competition Team.  Her mom wanted Mackenzie to be seen on the same team as Maddie on the show.  Mackenzie’s song “It’s a Girl Party” hit number one on the iTunes pops chart in 2014.  Mackenzie barely gets any of the praise from her mom or Abby.  She is compared to Maddie all the time.

Nia Frazier is 13 years old.  She has been dancing at Abby’s studio since she was three years old.  Holly is Nia’s mother.  Holly isn’t in a lot of the drama.  I think she is the nicest of all the moms.  Abby barely gives Nia any attention, but she doesn’t give up.  She is hardly ever at the top of the pyramid.  The weekly pyramid is how Abby rates the girls.  They have a competition every week, so if they don’t do well, they get ranked at the bottom of the pyramid.  Only one girl gets to be at the top.  

Before I move on to the next dancer, you need some background information on Candy Apples.  Candy Apples Dance Center is the rival of Abby Lee Dance Studio.  Candy Apples is in Ohio, and ALDC is in Pennsylvania.  Cathy Stein is the dance teacher.  Her daughter Vivi-Anne used to be a former dancer at Abby’s studio.  All of the moms hated Cathy.  She was extremely rude.  Cathy then took Vivi-Anne back to her own studio in Ohio.  Since then, they have competed against ALDC in several competitions, but they lose almost every time.  

Kendall Vertes is the next dancer.  She is 12 years old.  She began dancing at 18 months.  Kendall danced at ALDC.  Her mom, Jill, claimed that she wasn’t getting the respect she deserved.  Soon after, they left and went to Candy Apples.  Cathy used Abby’s choreography and costume to get Kendall first place.  Cathy then lost interest in Kendall, and they went back to ALDC.  It took awhile before Abby gained her trust back.

Kalani Hilliker is the last of the five dancers still at ALDC.  She is 14 years old.  She met Abby on AUDC.  Abby fell in love with her dancing.  She started at ALDC in season four.  She was asked back for season five because they only had four girls on the Elite Competition Team.

Brooke and Paige Hyland are no longer part of ALDC.  Paige is 14 years old.  Brooke is 16 years old.  They are former ALDC dancers.  They left right after their mom, Kelly, and Abby got in a fight after a performance.  Kelly pulled Abby’s hair, and Abby scratched Kelly across the face.  Brooke was Abby’s favorite until she got older and decided dancing wasn’t her thing.  Paige now goes to therapy.  Abby traumatized her with all of the yelling.  She will not return back to the show.  They went to court and later sued Abby for emotional damage.

Chloe Lukasiak, like the Hylands, is no longer a part of ALDC.  She is 13 years old.  She was Maddie’s main competitor.  She was normally right in the middle of the pyramid.  She went to Studio 19 soon after Brooke and Paige left.  She will never return to ALDC.  Her mother, Christi, was very good friends with Kelly.  Christi often got in fights with Abby because Chloe was always compared to Maddie.

Other dancers such as Payton and Asia were often on the show, but were not part of the Elite Competition Team.  Payton Ackerman is 17 years old and has been at ALDC since a very young age.  She appeared in the show when she auditioned to fill Vivi-Anne’s spot, but Kendall got it.  Her mom, Leslie, got very upset and yelled at Abby, but that happens a lot.  

Asia Monet Ray is not part of the Elite Competition team.  She is nine years old.  She began being a part of ALDC after she got third on AUDC.  She now has her own reality tv show called Raising Asia.  She is very sassy.  She isn’t the best dancer, but she is quite the little performer.

As you can see, these people come from a totally different world than us, or so we think.  We fight just like they do.  We want the best for our future.  We aren’t much different than them.  This is Dance Moms.