“Everyone’s replaceable.” What would seem like a scathing critique to any normal child age 8-14 is an expected warning to the competition team dancers at Abby Lee Dance Company (A.L.D.C.) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lifetime’s hit TV show “Dance Moms” follows the chaotic journey of the competition team dancers and their mothers through the competition seasons. Season three of “Dance Moms” is scheduled to premiere on January 1, 2013 at 9 pm on Lifetime.
“Dance Moms” stars Abby Lee Miller and her dancers on the A.L.D.C. competition team: Mackenzie and Maddie, daughters of Melissa; Brooke and Paige, daughters of Kelly; Chloe, daughter of Christi; Nia, daughter of Holly; and Kendall, daughter of Jill. Every week, the A.L.D.C. competition team dances in a different competition. Abby Lee always enters a group number into the competition, which usually includes all of the girls, in addition to a combination of trios, duets, and solos. Abby Lee decides who will be performing each dance according to rank on the Pyramid. The pyramid is a pyramid constructed of pictures of the girls, with the worst performance of the week at the bottom, increasing upwards to the best performance at the top of the pyramid. This system is far from equitable because Abby Lee has a tendency to play favorites—it is rare that Maddie is not on the top of the pyramid.
Along with the pyramid comes the drama, for every mother believes that her daughter should be at the top of the pyramid every week. Verbal fights are common among the mothers at the dance studio, evolving from discontent about rank on the pyramid, anger over unfair treatment towards their daughter from Abby Lee, or just frustration towards the other mothers. Whenever a mother has a complaint, Abby Lee is quick to shut it down by screaming in the mothers’ faces as she reminds them that “everyone’s replaceable” and that their daughters can leave the studio at any time and not return.
Over the course of the two seasons of “Dance Moms,” there has been an insane amount of drama. Kendall has been on and off the competition team, switching between A.L.D.C. and Candy Apples Dance Company (C.A.D.C.), Abby Lee’s rival. Kendall’s mom, Jill, is one of the main reasons Kendall is not permanently on the team because Jill always starts fights with Abby Lee. Payton, one of the older dancers at Abby Lee’s studio, has also been on and off the team because of her snobby attitude and the noticeable age difference between her and the rest of the girls. Kelly eventually got sick of the way Abby Lee treated her daughters, so she pulled Brooke and Paige from competitions several times, which in turn made Abby Lee mad so she put Brooke and Paige on probation. At one of the competitions, Maddie, who is clearly Abby Lee’s favorite dancer, forgot part of her dance and ran off stage, and C.A.D.C. beat A.L.D.C. which caused Abby Lee to have a meltdown and leave the competition. After Maddie ran off stage, it took her a while to regain her confidence and in her next solo performance her music skipped, but she continued to dance without missing a beat, which made the other mothers skeptical that Abby Lee and Maddie had practiced privately with the skipping music.
Even though A.L.D.C. has caused stress and numerous breakdowns for the girls and their mothers, the girls are best friends and have had several exciting moments during the first two seasons to compensate for the bad times. Highlights include Chloe being selected to be in singer Lux’s music video “It’s Like Summer,” Chloe receiving a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School, Maddie receiving a role on Lifetime show “Drop Dead Diva,” Brooke recording her own song and making a music video, and Maddie winning the title of “Junior Miss Starpower” at two competitions in one day.
Despite all the tears caused by Abby Lee’s harsh discipline toward the dancers, the A.L.D.C. team is successful most of the time and currently holds the National Champion title after placing first in the group dance in Beverly Hills. At Nationals, Brooke, Mackenzie, Maddie, and Chloe each performed solos. Mackenzie got first place for petite solo awards, Maddie won second place for junior solo awards, and Chloe won first place for junior solo awards. The group number, “The Last Text,” won first place as well, making the Abby Lee Dance Company national champions.
Season three is expected to bring much more drama to “Dance Moms,” as Brooke and Paige may not be returning to A.L.D.C. because of the favoritism Abby Lee shows towards other dancers. The mothers can be expected to have innumerable fights, Abby Lee can be expected to be even more harsh on the girls than she was before, and the dancers can be expected to crack under the pressure. Beginning on January 1, 2013, “Dance Moms” will bring a whole new definition to the word “drama.” Remember, everyone’s replaceable.
Watch some of the most memorable dances from seasons one and two!
