| Dance Moms | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality |
| Starring | Abby Lee Miller Chloe Lukasiak Maddie Ziegler Brooke Hyland Paige Hyland Nia Frazier Mackenzie Ziegler Vivi Anne Stein |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Lifetime |
| First shown in | July 13, 2011 - present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Dance Moms is an American reality television series that debuted on the Lifetime TV network on July 13, 2011. Created by Collins Avenue Productions, it is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Abby Lee Dance Company, and follows children's early careers in dance show business along with their mothers, who support them. Dance Moms has been renewed for a second season that will be airing on January 10, 2012 on Lifetime.
Contents |
Abby Lee Miller (Head Instructor) started at 14 years old, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She prides herself on turning out professional level dancers. Abby feels as if she is providing her dancers with everything they need to go out into the world and succeed with a career in dance. She comes off as strict, tough, and even bossy, and has made many of her dancers cry. She also tends to be the object of all fights in the network. Abby seems to play favorites throughout the show but has only two favorites mostly: Chloe and Maddie.
Melissa Ziegler, is the divorced mother of Maddie and Mackenzie. The other mothers on the show talk about how they can't stand her. She "would do anything for Maddie to become the lead".[1] Melissa often talks positively about her daughter Maddie, but rarely about her other daughter Mackenzie. Mackenzie says "she can't handle the long rehearsal hours", so Melissa is worries about Mackenzie. She is never worried about Maddie because she is so used to Maddie's frequent winning. Melissa constantly talks about the other mothers. Melissa meets with the producer of the LUX video[1] but Chloe still gets the lead. Despite saying she is happy for Chloe, Melissa is still taken aback.
Christi Lukasiak has two daughters: Chloe, who is enrolled in the Abby Lee Dance Company; and Clara, age two. Christi is very encouraging of Chloe, but constantly worries that Abby does not give Chloe the attention or the opportunities that Maddie receives. Because of this, Christi almost always finds herself at odds with Abby, as well as with Melissa. Christi had a tough upbringing, essentially being raised by her grandmother, due to her mother giving birth to her at a young age. Because of this, Christi feels that she had few opportunities as a child and wants to make sure that Chloe receives more opportunities than she did. But no matter what happens, Christi wants her daughter to come off the stage and feel like she did the best she could do.
Kelly Hyland, Brooke and Paige's mom, used to be a dancer at the Abby Lee Dance company herself, but quit as a teenager to become a cheerleader. Now grown, she has now enrolled both of her daughters in the same dance company. She is often seen gossiping on the show with Christi, heightening tensions between the mothers. Kelly doesn't like Melissa.
Cathy Stein, is the owner of Candy Apple's Dance Center in Canton, Ohio. Cathy previously enrolled her daughter, Vivi-Anne , in Abby Lee Dance Company, but quit because she was tired of the rules, the moms, and Abby. She claimed Abby didn't use Vivi-Anne to her full potential. After she dropped out, she went back to her "Candy Apple's Command Center" and plotted her revenge. She found out where Abby's dancers were competing. She took her 3 best "Apples" Justice, Vivi-Anne, and Taylor to the iHollywood competition in Los Angeles, California. Her plan backfires when they go competing with ALDC and lose.
Holly Frazier, Nia's mom, is a mother of three, but her only daughter Nia is enrolled in the Abby Lee Dance Company. Holly tends to be quieter than the other moms. When she feels the need to speak up, she does so in a different tone than some of the other mothers. She's been seen confronting Abby about Nia's placement in dances and costumes that are based around her ethnicity (such as a leopard print jumpsuit and an afro wig).[2] However, she has yet to stand her ground and prevent those numbers from happening, and instead confronts Abby after the fact.
Minister Dawn is not one of the Dance Moms, but has appeared twice and is notable for her spectacular exit from Abby's dance studio in the first episode. Her daughter came to class inappropriately dressed (loose hair, t-shirt and socks for acro, which would make the rehearsal unsafe for her) and Abby had her leave the classroom. When Minister Dawn found out, she pushed her way into the studio, screamed at Abby at length, and followed her around calling her "trash" and berating her. She only left when the police were called; she and her daughter were barred from returning. She did reappear in one later, less explosive, episode to discuss billing issues with Abby; she insists that she doesn't owe for costumes and lessons given since Abby "made" them leave.
Gianna Martello is Abby's assistant choreographer. She is often seen traveling with the group, as well as in the studio. She is noted for her special bond with Maddie. Gianna has never been individually recognized on screen.
Jill Vertes, Kendall's mom, she has three daughters 3 and 2 of them go to Abby Lee Dance Company. She is very competitive and is a strong believer when her kids dance to give them self esteem. Jill was a cheerleader at the University of Pittsburgh.
Less frequently featured than the Abby Lee Dance Company girls:
| Ep # | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Competition Begins" | July 13, 2011 |
| Meet the dance instructor Abby Lee Miller, the dance moms and their daughters as the competition season begins and they travel from Pittsburgh to Phoenix. | ||
| 2 | "Wildly Inappropriate" | July 20, 2011 |
| Abby's attempt to turn up the competition heat blows the audience away with what some call an inappropriate dance number. Abby thinks it will give them their next big win, but it could backfire. | ||
| 3 | "Cheerleader Blues" | July 27, 2011 |
| The Dance Moms need to win this week's competition to stay in the game, but chaos ensues when Kelly's daughter Brooke hurts her hip and says she she wants to drop out of dance to be a cheerleader. Kelly convinces her daughter to stay in dance, pushing her so far that it may cause permanent injuries. | ||
| 4 | "Stealing the Show" | August 3, 2011 |
| Abby gives each girl a solo dance for their next competition. However, she gives two solos to her star dancer, Maddie, clearly providing her with an advantage over the others. Christi has seen this too many times and lashes out at Abby in uncontrollable fury. | ||
| 5 | "When Stars Collide" | August 10, 2011 |
| The Abby Lee Dance Company is on the edge after learning that a big Broadway casting director will attend their annual showcase, an exhibition where she shows off her accomplished dancers. Abby's desire to push the girls to the max could have catastrophic effects if they don't do their best. | ||
| 6 | "Dying to Dance" | August 17, 2011 |
| On their way to a big competition, Christi finds out that her grandmother has been admitted into a hospital. She now must choose whether to go to the hospital to sit by her grandmother's side or go to the dance competition. | ||
| 7 | "She's a Fighter" | August 24, 2011 |
| Abby's continuous typecasting of Nia in ethnic stereotype roles sends her mother,Holly, over the edge. For the first time, Holly takes off the gloves and the fighter in her comes out to defend Nia. | ||
| 8 | "Love on the Dance Floor" | August 31, 2011 |
| Abby plays Cupid with Brooke and her duet partner, hoping their off-stage romance will make on-stage drama in the team's group number. | ||
| 9 | "From Ballerinas to Showgirls" | September 7, 2011 |
| Chloe finds herself at the top of Abby's pyramid for the first time; but is she being set up? Meanwhile, Cathy is secretly readying her Candy Apple dancers to go against Abby's dancers after she decides that she and Vivi-Anne will not be touring or performing anymore with Abby Lee Dance Company. | ||
| 10 | "Cathy Brings It On" | September 14, 2011 |
| In Hollywood, Kelly decides to secretly hire choreographers to give Brooke and Paige an edge. To everyone's shock, Cathy arrives with her Candy Apple dancers to go head to head against Abby's dancers. | ||
| 11 | "It All Ends Here" | September 28, 2011 |
| After competing all season, it all boils down to the National Title Competition. Abby's dancers have been on a losing streak and this is their last chance to prove they can win. Meanwhile, Melissa leaves the competition early to go on vacation. Her ex-husband, Kurt, steps in as a "Dance Dad", sending Melissa into a panic. | ||
| 12 | "There's Only One Star" | October 5, 2011 |
| Abby brings the girls back to LA to audition for a music video. The group gets cast, but then continue to compete for the lead, as only one girl will be the star. The main competition is, as usual, between Maddie and Chloe, but this time, Abby isn't the judge. | ||
| 13 | "Most Outrageous Moments" | October 12, 2011 |
| Abby Lee Miller hosts a clipshow featuring the fifteen most outrageous moments seen on Dance Moms. | ||
Every week, Abby Lee Miller shows the moms and the dancers who she feels did the best and who needs to improve. The pyramid changes every week. Most of the time it is Maddie on top, Brooke and Chloe on the 2nd row, and Paige, Nia, and Mackenzie on the bottom, Vivi-anne was on the bottom when she danced with the school until she quit. But in episode 12, there was no pyramid-merely a straight line. About using the Pyramid, Miller told TV Guide, "I've never done that in my life. That has nothing to do with me. That's the show. They came up with that whole process".[3]
| Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vivi-Anne | N/A | N/A | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | QUIT | QUIT | QUIT | QUIT | QUIT |
| Nia | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Middle | Bottom | Middle | Bottom | Middle | Middle | Bottom | Straight Line |
| Mackenzie | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Straight Line |
| Chloe | Middle | Middle | Middle | Middle | Bottom | Middle | Middle | Week Off | Top | Middle | Middle | Straight Line |
| Brooke | Middle | Bottom | Middle | Top | Middle | Bottom | Middle | Middle | Middle | Bottom | Middle | Straight Line |
| Paige | Bottom | Middle | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Middle | Middle | Middle | Bottom | Bottom | Bottom | Straight Line |
| Maddie | Top | Top | Top | Middle | Top | Top | Top | Top | Week Off | Top | Top | Straight Line' |