Dance Moms

[arrowlady]

I do love this show, the "moms" crack me up at how over the top they can be. Having a daughter that is a dancer though, I have to tell you I have never seen moms act like this back stage. I have overhead some waiting room talk but nothing like these ladies.

[BetteDavisEyes]

Why on earth would Peyton and her mom try out for Cathy's Candy Apples dance team only to turn them down after being offered the position? That mom is nuts.

Jill is batshit insane. Kendall is a good dancer but she has yet to prove she should be on top of the pyramid. When she outdances & beats Maddie, Chloe, Nia, Brooke and Paige, then she can be on top. She's yet to beat any of them so fittingly, she's not on top. Then she throws a fit over a stupid costume? She needs to get her head out of her ass and get over herself. Poor Kendall. She seems like a sweet kid but her mom is a drama queen.

[KillarneyRose]

I watched an episode last night, but I'm not sure how recent it is because it had been TiVo'd. Abby had seven girls learn solos for some supposedly huge competition in New Jersey but found out a few days beforehand that it was cancelled. Wanting the girls to not have their solos wasted, she found a competition on the same day in Texas (not a peep out of the moms about the expense of buying last minute plane tickets) which ended up being held in what looked like a high school gym. I was like, "HUH???"

Really, though, I wonder what it is that these girls/moms expect will be the end result of what they're going through. Are they trying to become professional dancers? Get college scholarships? What???

[ColdInCanada11]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

I watched an episode last night, but I'm not sure how recent it is because it had been TiVo'd. Abby had seven girls learn solos for some supposedly huge competition in New Jersey but found out a few days beforehand that it was cancelled. Wanting the girls to not have their solos wasted, she found a competition on the same day in Texas (not a peep out of the moms about the expense of buying last minute plane tickets) which ended up being held in what looked like a high school gym. I was like, "HUH???"

Really, though, I wonder what it is that these girls/moms expect will be the end result of what they're going through. Are they trying to become professional dancers? Get college scholarships? What???

That's the newest episode!

[GammaPhi88]

Did anyone else think that Maddie's curls made her lookalike Snidley Whiplash?

[BlueOwl]

Ugh! Do NOT like this show, but watched it this week to remind myself just why I do not like it. Good point brought up--how in the heck can Abby Lee or the individual families afford flights at the last minute to Galveston, TX !? And why , WHY must they compete every weekend? I would think that it would be nice to have a "free" weekend to hang out at home, see friends, sleep, etc!! Also, Page looks terribly thin to me. Anyone else think that? Jill is foul. Just awful. Can't believe that the dance competition was in a gym on a gym floor!! I would think that liability on the part of the dance company putting on the show would prohibit that! Lastly, it is not uncommon for dance team members to be under contract for a year, whereby they can't switch studios and perform with any other studio of dance teacher. Usually there is a steep financial penalty for breaking the contract. That could be why these moms don't pull their kids out of Abby's studio. But, personally, I still think that it is over dramatized for the sake of television. They all irritate me.

[AXOmom]

I admit that I'm a little obssesed with this show - largely because I watch it and then, as a parent and a teacher, feel completely reaffirmed afterwards by realizing that even though I had my bad days and made my mistakes, on my worst day, I wasn't even close to any of these nutcases.

Daughter did a little bit of dance as a kid (just classes - not teams) but she was on her HS dance team which did compete and had friends on it who had been on competitive dance teams for years. Our city was small- nothing like Pittsburgh, so that could make a difference, but from what I know -

a) Dance teams, like any other competitive activity, have a season when you could expect to be busy most weekends, but it isn't year-round. Also, I'm sure they only film the weekends the girls have competition, so I don't know that they're actually gone every weekend.

b) We had every dance competition on gym floors (that was HS dance teams though), but it wasn't unusual to have studio dance competitions on gym floors. Perhaps that was related to the lack of large stage venues in our area.

c) I've never heard of a girl signing a contract to stay at a specific studio for a year. Many of our friends who had done years of studio dance had switched studios at least once and since that usually involved drama - a lot had done it rather suddenly and mid-stream so to speak. I've heard of studios/gyms having coaches sign a contract like that although a lawyer friend later told us that those really weren't worth the paper they were written on. Maybe those are more typical in other places where the competition is stiffer, and I could see the point in that group dances are choreographed and blocked carefully, so having a girl leave suddenly (like Brooke did) can screw things up.

I don't get the sudden trip to Galveston either but I'm betting the show picked up the check for that.

[ColdInCanada11]

In twenty years of dance, fourteen of those competitive, I've never seen a competition on a gymnasium floor. The only time I have ever danced on a gym floor was for a few random school events that I performed at. It's actually terrifying if you are used to stage/studio floors, and there generally is not a lot of time to warm up/practice on the floor.

My studio did not work this way, but I know there are some studios where you pay a flat (albeit ridiculously expensive) fee for the year, this could be what they are working with. If I've paid $30,000+ and I was told I was going to get x number of competitions out of it, I would absolutely want them to find another competition.

The contract thing is pretty normal for competitive studios. IIRC, it only affects those who actually compete. In Irish dance, you HAVE to wait 6 months to a year to start competing (by An Coimisiún rules). So that really isn't anything unique. A lot of it has to do with people trying to steal choreography.

[UofISigKap]

Originally Posted by ColdInCanada11

The contract thing is pretty normal for competitive studios. IIRC, it only affects those who actually compete. In Irish dance, you HAVE to wait 6 months to a year to start competing (by An Coimisiún rules). So that really isn't anything unique. A lot of it has to do with people trying to steal choreography.

Hijack for a quick second...do you Irish dance!?! I currently compete under an AnCom school.

And now back to Dance Moms, which I'll admit is a guilty pleasure that I totally watch.

[AXOmom]

Originally Posted by ColdInCanada11

In twenty years of dance, fourteen of those competitive, I've never seen a competition on a gymnasium floor. The only time I have ever danced on a gym floor was for a few random school events that I performed at. It's actually terrifying if you are used to stage/studio floors, and there generally is not a lot of time to warm up/practice on the floor.

My studio did not work this way, but I know there are some studios where you pay a flat (albeit ridiculously expensive) fee for the year, this could be what they are working with. If I've paid $30,000+ and I was told I was going to get x number of competitions out of it, I would absolutely want them to find another competition.

The contract thing is pretty normal for competitive studios. IIRC, it only affects those who actually compete. In Irish dance, you HAVE to wait 6 months to a year to start competing (by An Coimisiún rules). So that really isn't anything unique. A lot of it has to do with people trying to steal choreography.

Then I assume that b and c had to do with our area at the time and it's location (which was very small urban and not at all close to a large urban area).

I do know that her friends who were in studio, while they obviously preferred not to compete on gym floors - did it and all of the area HS dance teams did it for every competition (of course I realize that HS dance teams are not the same thing as studio dance teams).

I understand the reason for the contract - it makes sense to me in that regard, but I would assume, as we discovered with similar coaching contracts, they are not very enforceable. Lawyer friend (who was a parent at our gymnastics club where they commonly had coaches sign these contracts) said that the court costs were such and the likehood of winning so small that they were pretty pointless in the long run.

[ASUADPi]

I have watched a couple of episodes and quite honestly the moms are certifiable! IMHO they are just vicariously living through their daughter. They probably wanted to dance as children, but their parents didn't let them (for whatever reason) and they are pushing their daughters to live their dream.

[Always AlphaGam]

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

I have watched a couple of episodes and quite honestly the moms are certifiable! IMHO they are just vicariously living through their daughter. They probably wanted to dance as children, but their parents didn't let them (for whatever reason) and they are pushing their daughters to live their dream.

Ladies correct me if I'm wrong but I think Kelly might have been one of Abby's former dancers. I could've sworn I heard her say something along the lines of "I've been here for 30 years..."

In her case, she's obviously done as a dancer and is now pushing her daughters to follow her dream.

[GammaPhi88]

Originally Posted by Always AlphaGam

Ladies correct me if I'm wrong but I think Kelly might have been one of Abby's former dancers. I could've sworn I heard her say something along the lines of "I've been here for 30 years..."

In her case, she's obviously done as a dancer and is now pushing her daughters to follow her dream.

Kelly danced for Abby until she left to become a cheerleader....and Abby files this under "obvious foreshadowing"

[BetteDavisEyes]

In many episodes, Abby acts like she doesn't remember Kelly ever dancing for her & acts as if Kelly made up the whole thing.

[PM_Mama00]

I'm pathetic. I can't wait to see why Holly walks out.