Free At Last

Hi there!

This week on the Dedicated to Dance Moms blog I would like to talk about a routine that the Abby Lee Dance Company performed at a competition in the most recent episode of Dance Moms. 

The competition itself was in Atlanta, Georgia, and in my opinion, Abby seemed to take advantage of the type of crowd that would be attending. The name of the routine is entitled "Free At Last" and features Nia, the African American girl on the team. Early in the episode, Abby announces that since the group will be competing down South she would like to choreograph a routine that will be educational and represent the Civil Rights movement. She tells the girls that they need to perform in honor of the many African Americans that struggled during this time in history.

After watching the routine, I agree that it did a great job of creatively representing this point of time in history, and that with Nia's physical characteristics, she was the right member of the team to be featured. I may not always agree with Miss Abby's method of tough love, but the woman is absolutely brilliant. While I am sure Miss Abby does care about American History and representing it correctly, what she cares about more is winning. And though she is well aware that if a routine is impressive as can be, it is nothing if it doesn't move the audience. If you watch the footage of the routine in the link below, you will understand what I am talking about! The audience reacted in the exact way that she wanted them to, and it is because the story behind the routine personally relates to each of them. 

Some may call this manipulation, but Miss Abby calls it winning!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ROUTINE!

Crash Course on Dance Moms!

Hello blog world! I have never been a blogger before so this will be an interesting experiment. I decided to create this blog, Dedicated to Dance Moms because whether I am proud to admit it or not, I absolutely adore Lifetime's hit TV show, Dance Moms. I have been a dancer my entire life so I live vicariously through these talented toddlers and tweens (who are a million times better than I will ever be!) 

I'd like to start off this blog by introducing you to the cast and explain a little bit about the show. The show features the lives of the members of the Junior Company of the Abby Lee Dance Studio and their mothers. These girls spend hours everyday stretching, learning choreography, and working on technique. Some of the girls are even homeschooled so they can dedicate more time to working at the studio. 

Each episode starts off with a review of the week before in a critical session called "pyramid" where director Abby Lee Miller ranks the moms and dancers based on their performance the past week. The girls then  move on and stretch and the moms sit in a viewing room to watch their daughters rehearse, more often then not resulting in catty fights and disagreements. The girls learn routines for a few days before heading to a competition somewhere in the states in hopes of winning first place, which they often do! 

The picture above is the cast of the Abby Lee Dance Company.

From left: 

Chloe - her long limbs look beautiful on stage, and she is strongest in lyrical and contemporary genres. She gets a lot of solos and is one of Abby's favorite dancers. 

Nia - very dedicated to the team. Abby constantly critiques Nia's technique but she takes the feedback well and strives to improve.

Kendall - Strong Jazz dancer and also receives a lot of solos. Abby's comments usually make Kendall cry which causes drama between her mother and Abby.

Mackenzie - Youngest member of the team whose strength is acrobatics. She is quite the cutie!

Maddie - Mackenzie's older sister. By far Abby's favorite dancer and the strongest dancer on the team. Though she receives a lot of attention, she is still humble!

Brooke - The oldest member of the team with a strength in acrobatics. Abby is the hardest on Brooke because Brooke is starting to lose interest in dancing.

Paige - Brooke's younger sister. Another emotional member of the team that doesn't do well with the tough love that Abby constantly gives her. 

Above: The infamous Abby Lee Miller

I will describe the moms' levels of drama on a scale of 1-10!

From Left:

Jill  - Kendall's mom - 6. Jill will do anything to get Kendall ahead which causes controversy between her and the other moms sometimes.

Christi - Chloe's mom  - 9. By far the most outspoken mother on the show and her brawls with Abby leave viewers in shock!

Kelly - Brooke & Paige's mom - 8. Christi's right hand woman, being a former Abby Lee dancer, she has no problem telling it how it is.

Melissa - Maddie & Mackenzie's mom - 4. Melissa sucks up to Abby like it's her job, so the only drama she gets in is with the other moms.

Holly - Nia's mom - 2. Known as Dr. Holly because of her high level of education, this dance mom is most levelheaded and calm.

Well that's all for now! Hopefully future posts won't be this lengthy, I got way too excited to share this info :)