Dance Moms

Synopsis

The Abby Lee Dance Company’s Junior Elite Competition Team, made up of dancers aged six to thirteen, was the original focus of Dance Moms. The show was mainly set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before later moving to Los Angeles, California. Each week, the team traveled to different dance competitions, collecting awards and gearing up for nationals, all while Abby Lee Miller trained them to become “professional, employable working dancers.” The series highlighted the mothers, who were portrayed as rivals on behalf of their daughters, frequently clashing with Miller and each other, and sometimes uniting against opposing teams.

New routines—including solos, duets, trios, and group numbers—were dreamed up each week by Miller and her instructors, with input from the show’s producers, while the choreography came from Miller, her staff, or an occasional guest choreographer. Rival teams like Candy Apple Dance Center, Broadway Dance Academy, and Studio 19 fueled the group’s competitive drive. The show’s popularity was largely attributed to the tension and arguments between Miller and the moms, the weekly dances, and the tight bonds among the girls, as viewers watched them grow and refine their skills.

Miller came across as an extremely tough coach who, as the series went on, leaned more heavily on criticism—sometimes personal—to push the girls, stressing hard work and internal competition. Each week, she used a pyramid of individual headshots to rank the dancers and give feedback, based on the previous week’s performance, attitude, effort, the girl’s behavior, and her mother’s behavior. Miller had never used a pyramid in her studio before the show, and when asked about it, she said, “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.”

In season 5, Miller moved the team to Los Angeles to boost her reputation on the West Coast, while they kept competing weekly. The emphasis shifted toward preparing for careers in acting and music. During the second half of season 7, several dancers and their mothers left the ALDC to create “The Irreplaceables.” Miller exited the show a few episodes later, and the remaining ALDC dancers and mothers followed.

Cast

Abby Lee Miller runs Reign Dance Productions, which was previously called Maryen Lorrain Dance Studio. Her company, the Abby Lee Dance Company, is housed there, and she owns it and serves as its lead choreographer. In the second half of season seven, Miller stepped away from the show because she was awaiting sentencing for fraud. This caused the cast to split into different dance groups with their own instructors.

She came back for season eight. Gianna Martello teaches all dance styles at Reign Dance Productions and also works as the assistant choreographer for the ALDC Junior Elite Competition team. Martello learned dance from Miller at the same studio. Melissa Ziegler-Gisoni is the mom of Maddie Ziegler, who was eight when the show began and dances lyrical, contemporary, and tap, and Mackenzie Ziegler, who was six at the start and does acro, hip hop, and singing, formerly using the stage name Mack Z. They are from Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

Maddie was widely seen as Abby’s favorite student on the show, which created friction between the other mothers and Abby. Both sisters started dancing at Miller’s studio through Reign Dance Productions when they were four and two years old. They were part of the original cast and left during season six. Christi Lukasiak is the mother of Chloe Lukasiak, who was nine at the start and dances lyrical, contemporary, and ballet, from Mars, Pennsylvania.

Chloe began at the Abby Lee Miller Dance Company at age two. They were original cast members but left after the season four finale. They came back for guest appearances at the end of season seven part A and during season seven part B, then left again after the season seven finale. Holly Hatcher-Frazier is the mother of Nia Frazier, who was nine at the start and dances contemporary and sings under the name Nia Sioux, from Pittsburgh.

The Fraziers appeared in seven of the eight original seasons, making them the longest-running cast members. They were original cast members and left the ALDC during season seven to start a group called The Irreplaceables. They left the show for good after the finale.

Controversy and criticism

Abby Lee Miller faced backlash for putting her young dancers in revealing costumes. One Season 2 episode, "Topless Showgirls," aired on March 6, 2012, and featured a burlesque-style number where the girls wore flesh-toned sequined bra tops and tights to create the illusion of nudity. After complaints from parents and viewers, Lifetime pulled the episode from rotation. It was never included on the season's DVD or made available on streaming services. Miller defended the outfits, claiming that in the dance industry, everyone understands the performers are fully covered and the look is harmless.

In early January 2014, Kelly Hyland was arrested for allegedly assaulting Miller during a backstage argument at a New York City dance competition in November 2013, while filming Season 4. Hyland appeared in court with Miller on January 21, 2014, and entered a not guilty plea. Former cast member Christi Lukasiak later stated that Miller had accused Hyland's fifteen-year-old daughter, Brooke, of using drugs. On January 29, 2014, during an appearance on The View, Miller confirmed that Hyland and her daughters Brooke and Paige were no longer under contract and would not return to the show.

On October 13, 2015, Miller was indicted in Pittsburgh for hiding income she earned from the show in 2012 and 2013. The charges included bankruptcy fraud, concealing bankruptcy assets, and filing false bankruptcy declarations, involving roughly $755,000. She pleaded guilty in June 2016 as part of a deal with the IRS. In May 2017, a judge sentenced her to one year and a day in prison, of which she served 8.5 months before parole, followed by two years of supervised release.

Spin-offs, tours, and podcasts

The first spin-off from Dance Moms, titled Dance Moms: Miami, aired its debut on April 3, 2012, and was set at Stars Dance Studio in Miami, Florida, run by Victor Smalley and Angel Armas. It was canceled after just one season in September 2012. Another related show, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, featured Abby Lee Miller alongside other dance professionals judging twelve dancers between the ages of six and thirteen across various dance styles, with the goal of identifying the most versatile performer.

That series started on October 9, 2012, and lasted for two seasons. Dancers Ray, Siwa, and Hilliker first appeared on that program before later joining the ALDC Elite Team on Dance Moms. On June 24, 2014, a different spin-off called Abby's Studio Rescue premiered, where Miller visited dance studios around the United States to help improve their choreography, layout, and staffing. Only one season of that show was made.

In July 2014, Raising Asia hit the air, focusing on Asia Monet Ray, who had been a guest team member during several episodes of Dance Moms’ third season. The series followed Asia, her mother who worked as a model, her bodybuilder father, and her younger sister Bella Blu, as they supported Asia’s ambitions for fame in the entertainment industry. A British adaptation, Dance Mums with Jennifer Ellison, debuted on October 20, 2014, and ran for two seasons.

Ellison hosted the show from her own Liverpool dance school, Jelli Studios. In 2016, news broke that Ellen DeGeneres was developing a film based on Dance Moms, but that project never materialized. In 2018, the Irreplaceables group—excluding the Bridges and Fraziers—went on the Irreplaceables Tour, which included masterclasses, dance performances, meet and greets, and question-and-answer sessions with fans. In April 2020, a new spin-off called Abby's Virtual Dance-Off was announced for a mid-2020 release.

The twelve-episode series was to feature taped dance submissions from contestants, with Miller judging via video conference to follow social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. However, on June 5, 2020, Lifetime canceled the show and ended its relationship with Miller after former cast members Camille Bridges and Adriana Smith accused her of using racist and condescending language toward their daughters in earlier seasons of Dance Moms.