When they did their trips to Australia and it was advertised that there were master classes there were petitions etc started by people in the dance industry to try and stop her doing it because of the methods shown on the show
@@BrittanyDeNee22 no literally like yeah he did get his doctorate BUT his certification that you have renew to stay in practice if i’m not mistaken expired and he didn’t even get it renewed
i can’t imagine the trauma maddie experienced from the fan base. as someone who has been a dance moms fan since the first season, maddie has been absolutely ridiculed and torn apart because she was the favorite on the show and people wanted chloe to beat her. i cannot even begin to explain how bad her treatment was from the fan base. now people post tikTok’s saying “maturing is realizing maddie wasn’t that bad” like… yeah NO SHIT. she was literally 8 years old.
exactly!! growing up as i watched the show, i’ve always been a maddie girl because i found her dances to be so beautiful and thought of her to be very hardworking and talented, but it was sad to see the amount of hate she was getting when she was a CHILD. people were excusing the abuse abby did to her because she was the “favorite” when in reality the girl’s trauma shouldn’t have been a competition in the first place.
They never should have pitted any of those kids against one another. Even without the show’s interference with that people would have chosen favorites and been cruel. So sad.
The kids were all pitted against one another. The fan base also had a large portion of people saying “nias not that good” “chloes not that good” etc. I agree with you, but let’s not forget that the producers and Abby are heavily responsible for drama surrounding those children, and many of the fans were children as well.
@@marissashuler7199 totally! but everyone always points those aspects out where as maddie’s trauma is always undermined. in fact, i’ve never seen anyone talk about how poorly maddie was treated by the fan base (i’m sure someone has but i’ve never seen it) so i just wanted to point that out.
Unrelated (sort of) but damn does this comment make me feel old lol- and I’m in my twenties dammit!! But I remember when the internet was saying that a sign of maturation was realizing Jim Halpert was kind of a jerk. Imma go get into a geriatric ward (which I’m cool with because I love and adore and work with the geriatric population everyday… probably bc I relate to them lol, blue collar kids with WWII grandparents understand)
It’s also insane to me that to this day, Abby not only still defends her actions but expects those girls to get on their hands and knees and thank her for their success as if they weren’t the ones who payed the price for it.
@@smileyfan16 and Abby wouldn’t be anything without those girls. The show got its notoriety because Abby tormented those girls, they paid the price and owe Abby nothing.
@@smileyfan16 Sia was a fan of Maddie, not the show. Sia has spoken heavily against Abby and has talked about how Abby traumatized Maddie. Just because Lifetime put Maddie on the map, on a show that also starred Abby doesn’t mean anything. I don’t give a fuck if she taught her everything she knows, Abby did a lot to her as well that would’ve broken her if she stayed.
It’s very telling how Maddie, who was known as the “favorite” won’t even utter a word about the show or abby now. Chloe and Maddie speak about how they barely remember anything from their childhood which is a response to trauma. I feel so deeply for all of them.
I've also heard one of the girls say recently that even if the moms understood the drama was staged for the show, the kids didn't understand that. So fake or not, these girls regularly saw their mothers hating each other.
@@Lynsey17It wasn't all staged. I've listened to their podcasts over the years and yes, the producers instigated situations but not all. Look at what happened to Kelli, even Paige sued Abby when she was 12. Abby did try to sabotage Nia's singing career. She did put down Chloe's looks (among many other things) she also put down girls from other teams... That fight with Kira was real. Please don't say it was staged or scripted because it wasn't. Poor Chloe, Paige, Nia went to counseling for years.
can we talk about how Maddy Zeigler went from being abused by Abby to being groomed by Sia? literally being manipulated staying with her and sharing a bed....
For real! It’s so weird how so many people think Maddy & Sia’s relationship is normal. There is no way in hell any sane parent would allow an adult to treat their child like Sia did Maddy & not think it was inappropriate. If Sia was a man people would be losing their minds.
In the last season when her and Chole get their OG jackets and Jill gets snippy about it and nia goes “it’s fine Jill i don’t get much” it breaks my hearts
It blows my mind that Paige’s attempt to sue Abby for abuse was let go for insufficient evidence. Just in the show alone there’s so many examples of it. I guess maybe they can’t really use reality tv as evidence since it’s sometimes edited but still
i completely agree with you but i think it had to do with the film itself being 'entertainment'. i think mackzboss has a video on it if you wanna learn more
I don’t know about law but probably the fact that it was a reality show was the reason they failed It’s known that a lot of reality shows fake storylines, that’s probably what the defense used to claim that everything was just for the show
I just sort of feel bad for the original moms, because they were just everyday moms in Pittsburgh and had no tv experience and had no idea what kind of attorneys they needed to protect them when they were approached. Lifetime totally exploited them in the beginning and knew these moms had no idea what they were doing. I think that’s why they were locked in for the first 4 seasons. After that Christi and Kelly left but any mom who saw this show and put their kids on in like 2015-19 are the real problem.
Yeah they genuinely had no clue what they were getting into for that 6 episode “documentary” only to not realize they were signing their lives away for 6 years. But everyone from Jill onwards knew EXACTLY what this show was and purposely went on it for the fame regardless of what their kids experienced. Kelly & Christi have major faults for sure but they were the only ones actively fighting to get off the show as soon as they legally could, I still have some side eye towards Holly for keeping Nia on it as long as she did.
@@sioparr it’s so wild because this show was so problematic, but then it turned into a completely different beast after Maddie became so famous and people just wanted to be apart of it even more. Unfortunately, the producers just had a special way of breaking people and nobody really won coming out of it of their newer kids.
this!!!! all the ogs mom had nooo clue what they were getting themselves into, then couldn’t get out of the contracts! so i hate when people put the blame on them instead of abby!? from listening to christi and kelly’s podcast they make it seem like when the show started Abby just became more mean and volatile each week/episode!
@@sioparrI don’t want to excuse Holly’s actions, but I thought the reason they stayed was because Nia wanted to stay with Abby since she made her better (despite the trauma). But is that true?
Okay one important note about the moms not removing their daughters from the exploitation is they all tried very hard. One of the EP’s got into one of the mom’s cars when she was trying to remove their daughters and said to her “I will own your house, your car, and destroy your children” so they were literally coerced into staying
@@kloveandpeace8290 they were financially and emotionally abused. The moms signed on for 6 episodes and found out they had to stay for 4 seasons or lose everything
@@kloveandpeace8290f there were ever an excuse to leave your child in a horrible situation and try to support them through it, it would be when the alternative is homelessness. Like be fucking for real. As a parent would you rather say “I know this is horrible but I’ll be here with you and can help you” or “to get you out of this situation we will lose everything including our home.” Like do you think a horrible dance teacher or homelessness is worse for an 8 year old? Get serious.
I would love another video on this, discussing other cast members on the show, the dangerous relationship that the show fostered with Maddy & Sia, the career shoot-offs (singing/acting) that Abby tried to destroy for each girl, etc. I know there are so many things to unpack in this show & would love some part 2 & part 3 videos.
i remember hearing on the podcast that kelly actually talked to a lawyer multiple to try and get out of the show throughout seasons 1-4 and was told each time that there is nothing they could do and the only way she was able to leave was when she “broke her contract” by getting into a physical altercation with abby. i believe the moms are telling some truth when they talk about the contracts because other moms have said the same
Always a wonderful surprise when I see the notification of a new uploads from Smokey Glow. Knowing your history of calling out the exploitation of children online, I KNOW this is going to be a great video. I couldn't sit through Dance Moms, so I stuck to clips or reviews. Watching those kids getting screamed at and listening to the mothers whine like spoiled brats who didn't get their way just made me too anxious. Edit: I was NOT disappointed. Thank you for your closing statement. Abbey did NOT love and care for those children. She used, abused, and exploited those girls. She bullied and pit everyone against each other in some of the worst ways. She never should have had a career dealing with children.
It’s wild that those “sexy” costumes and provocative dances *still* happen at dance competitions for children ages 5-15. It’s very rare to find a dance company that gives their dancers age appropriate costumes, dance routines, and song choices.
its not sexy, costumes are meant to show off the body and form. i was a competitive dancer for many years and trust me other dancers, judges and most parents didnt have issues with costumes. its outside people that have no idea what they are talking about that sexualize children. not trying to attack you im sorry if it sounds that way
@@karliekalinowski6593 Not at all! It’s a conversation that needs to be had. There are absolutely people from the outside making issues out of nothing. I was a competitive dancer as well. I can fully support a costume that enhances the dance and highlights the dancers form. I’m talking more specifically about the little string bikini looking costumes on very small children. A 2 piece crop top/dance short costume will absolutely highlight the dancers form in the same way a bra and brief/bikini bottom would. There’s just a line that we’re getting a little to close to I think.
I used to be an office manager at a dance studio and I was always super grossed out by the way a lot of young girls were dressed. I know your clothes are supposed to show your form in dance, but a lot of people took it waaaaaay too far.
I did dance for a few years when I was younger and I remember being annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to have my belly showing cause I loved crop tops 😂 but now obviously I can see why they did that
@@karliekalinowski6593Coming from someone who did dance for twelve years, there is absolutely no reason for little kids to wear booty shorts and bras and have a face full of makeup. maybe it’s hard for you to see it because it sounds like you had either a good experience or at least a history with competitive dance, but we need to call a spade a spade.
Basically for their contracts, it was for a certain amount of seasons and they weren’t allowed to get kicked off. There is a video of Abby Lee saying something along the lines of “because they couldn’t leave, I treated them however I wanted to”
That’s exactly why whenever I see comments and videos from people asking why the mothers didn’t just leave…..I can tell that they didn’t know and understand the legal issues of it because of the contracts
I played a competitive sport for close to 10 years starting in elementary school. I can tell you, this type of abusive behavior is sadly widespread in the sports world. There’s no checks and balances or oversight. Coaches do and say whatever they want and there’s nothing done to protect the children. It has taken me years to get to a better mental space after experiencing so much trauma from my volleyball days. Thank you for highlighting this type of disgusting behavior. More people need to look into the world of competitive sports to expose the rampant abuse
Yes! 100% agree with this. I remember not feeling like there was anything "wrong" with Abby's treatment of the girls back when the show originally aired because it echoed my experiences of participating in competitive marching band in high school. In retrospect, my band director was incredibly abrasive (to say the absolute least) and fostered a heinously toxic environment, and this took years of unpacking (and therapy) to process.
For sure, I wasn't very athletically gifted growing up and was horribly bullied by teachers and other parents when I participated in sports. In my early teens I had a horse riding instructor who was EXACTLY like Abby Lee, she had no business being around children and ruined my self esteem. There are just so many people 'teaching' and working with children who shouldn't be and I agree - it needs to be monitored, these should be safe and confidence building environments!
Thanks for putting this comment. As someone more in the arts, I tend to stay tunnel visioned and think this is just a dance/performing arts problem. It’s good to continue this conversation for other competitive sports, and not just the artistic ones. I hope you continue healing in your mental health journey 🥰
yes 100%! i was a competitive dancer growing up and i liked dance moms because the way the show romanticized the abuse the girls suffered helped me in a poor and unhealthy attempt to cope with the abuse i suffered. my teachers would hit us, verbally abuse us, and, yes, often sexualize us in dances and costumes that were not age appropriate.
@@izzyilliterate physical violence also occurred!? this is just beyond words to me. i am so sorry you and everyone else who went through stuff like that, experienced this. good that you and other talk about it today
As a former dancer, I loved DM initially. Life became hectic and lost track of the show until a few years back. I couldn't believe I ever found the treatment of those poor children acceptable. It also made me question many of my own experiences and realized how they had normalized outright ab*sive behavior. I know you're going do this subject justice, Hannah. Also, side note: happy to see your beautiful face 💞
As a former professional there was a lot of arguing about that for me. I was in therapy for my PTSD causing experiences and I couldn't understand why no one else saw it. I am glad that time has caught up there but it's absolutely hard when the reason it's not seen is because abuse is normal. I'm still sorting out the less abuse isn't abuse side of things and I hope you have had good care. To be clear my abuse history wasn't dance related. I didn't have professional training until I was a professional myself. Oddly enough that abusive shit doesn't happen to another adult. Wild isn't it?
I’m an ex dancer and I loved Dance Moms at first because it really did remind me of the stupid drama that happened at my own studio. But over time my teachers gained inspiration from Abby Lee and became more and more abusive. It was to the point that my teacher made me and my sister both dance through serious injuries that only made them worse… my sister was literally in a wheelchair from it. Screw Dance Moms.
@@X._.COCO._.X The algorithm doesn't make it so creators you follow make timely videos. I get what you mean, Jessica. Just remember- simulation or not, our experience is our realty💕
Same! I’ve been bingeing all of Smokey Glows stuff since I recently discovered her.. meanwhile my 12yo has started Dance Moms from the beginning. Now she posts a video about it! The timing is *chefs kiss*
Brooke went on two dates during the show and the second one was with a guy that was later arrested for sexual assault charges, there was also someone they all worked with in the industry who also got arrested for doing stuff to underage CHILDREN
There honestly could be several 45 minute videos covering the many different forms of psychological abuse the girls went though- from other dancers being brought in specifically to beat them, their weight and even scales being in the studio, producers creating drama, maddie's clear special treatment, etc. No wonder so many of the girls don't dance anymore, or quit for a long time.
I was a dancer for 30+ years. I have been out of it for a bit, but plan to get back into it soon! I competed against Abbie Lee Miller and Candy Apples “back in the day” (late 90’s into 2000’s). They were cruel, rude, loud, and bullying even then. Everyone knew to just stay out of their way; we always had to deal with their shit when they competed. They were always complaining about awards, wanted their way, etc.
„We cannot spread this narrative that it was just her being tough on the kids… SHE WAS ABUSIVE” I strive for the ability to formulate a point as well as Hanna does
i think another reason why dance moms was so successful was that they were just regular people from pittsburgh. they weren't in hollywood with six degrees of separation of big names in show business. christi and kelly talk about this a bit in the back to the barre podcast.
I have childhood trauma from a ballet studio and teacher that operated a lot like Abby. I was watching the show after I quit dance and hadn’t fully registered that my experience was trauma, until I watched this show. I saw myself in those girls, particularly I saw myself a lot in Chloe & Paige and how often they were yelled at and never deserved to be treated like that (and so was I. none of those kids deserved any of that). So in a roundabout way, I’m thankful I was exposed to Dance Moms when I was since I was able to start therapy after high school and could identify my experience with abuse having seen such a similar situation on TV. And I can’t even imagine how worse it must’ve been for these young victims since their abuse was broadcast so publicly.
Seriously I remember being obsessed with it as a kid and now look back thinking how they actively made money off of little girls trauma, like they filmed their panic attacks, being verbally abused- everything. I’d love to see the paperwork that was signed for them to get away with this
I can kind of explain why Kelly would have brought her kids to Abby (as someone who was a VERY big name in the dance moms fandom for over seven years and was a certified expert on all things dance moms): none of the girls directly worked with abby. She wasn't an active teacher for most of the kids, and most of them had only met her a couple of times before the show. It was mainly other teachers working with the kids. If she was a more active teacher in Kelly's era, Kelly would have known about her abuse, but been fine taking her to this dance studio (also, this was likely one of the only studios in the area since the east coast is not as big in terms of competition dance, the epicenter is LA and Phoenix) she would've been fine with the other staff members working with her girls.
Also back in the day Abby was the choreographer for the competition team that she started, she wasn't the dance teacher. Christi said that the reason that the sign out the front said Reign Studio is that if you took classes there that was the name of the studio, Abby Lee was only used if you were on one of the competition teams.
Plus it wasn’t just that Abby was her former dance teacher, the hylands and millers were close families in general. Like attending each other’s big events outside the studio. It’s why it was especially horrific for Paige and Brooke (and Kelly) to be treated to a worse and worse degree after having such a good relationship. Also studio 19 was another pretty competitive studio in Pittsburgh, that had been direct competition w aldc before the show.
Kelly said on her podcast that Abby and Brooke had a great relationship she was the Maddie before Maddie that’s also why she didn’t have an issue with Abby they were close she had a good relationship with Abby’s family and vice versa
They also had different contracts with Abby, the season that the show started Christi and Chloe were under contract to Abby because Chloe had won a title and if they left before the term of the title they had to pay Abby $100,000 if they left before that competition year was up. Christi and Kelly have said that the times that Abby was yelling that if you leave you owe me $100,000 she wasn't kidding, that was a part of the contract that you signed with Abby saying that you were competing for the season and that was the penalty if you moved midseason. Season 4 Christi, Kelly and their girls weren't competing with Abby Lee and wasn't enough to get them off the show, it took Kelly having the physical fight with Abby and Christi having the argument over Chloe at the end of season 4 for both of them to get out of their contracts. Melissa and Maddie have said that it 2 years behind the scenes for them to get out of their contract. Don't forget that when the people from season 1 signed their contracts they thought that they were only doing a show for 6 weeks and so didn't understand all the clauses that were in the contracts which was for 4 years with an option for another 4. The only reason that Jess and JoJo could leave so easily was that Jess worked out that with them being in LA the producers hadn't lodged their contracts correctly for child contracts so when they wanted to leave they did, someone (I think Jess) has said that it only applied to people who started on the show after they moved to LA but also after Jess did that the producers fixed that loophole. Cathy has said that she only thought it was going to be the 6 week thing and she didn't want to do the show longer than that because it interrupted her running her studio too much. She ended up agreeing to being the 'competition' to the girls as that was the only way that they would release her and Vivi from their contracts.
I started to watch the show with my mom because I did cheer as kid & we've had a ton of discussions about the dynamic of the moms that rallied behind all of us. But also, because we have a shared love of dance. Every single one of those kids was tormented in different ways. Chloe was constantly compared to Maddie & told she would never be good enough. Maddie was held to such a high standard and pit against Chloe. Her relationships with adults at the time was always very weird to me, both with Abby and Sia frankly. Nia experienced micro-aggressions and even blatant racist comments along with also being told she would never be good enough. Holly was clearly the most successful in her personal career and was routinely demonized for daring to have a job outside of Dance Moms. Brooke and Paige were bullied because of the relationship Abby had with Kelly. She was notorious for taking her frustrations with the parents out on the children and the Hylands are a prime example of much of that rage. They were never held in higher regard and were constantly bullied at the hands of Abby. Not to mention all of the body shaming that goes into not just this show, but performance/dance culture as a whole. Abby making comments about the bodies of literal children, especially in the things they could not control. ie, the reason why the movie Tall Girl is even a thing. The girl in that movie was shamed for her arms being too long. Literally, what? Overall, I feel bad for all of these kids.
I studied ballet for years, from the age of 3. I had an excellent teacher and for me dance was just a fun thing I did. I loved it and I gained a lot from dance, but it's not something that was ever going to become a career. After I stopped doing ballet, I watched a bit of dance moms and I was appalled. Abby behaves in a way that's so contrasted with my experiences. I did some teaching of the little ones, and under my teacher's leadership I learned how to instruct. The emphasis was on gentle correction and loads of praise. Every girl should walk out with something to work on for next time and praise for something she did well. There's no screaming and shouting. The school didn't do competitions. We had performances, but it was something to work towards and we weren't pitted against each other. I didn't ever go professional. A disproportionate number of my class did. I think that has a lot to do with the environment that was fostered. Your classmates are your colleagues. In a professional company, you want your colleagues to be the best they can be so that your performance as a whole is the best it can possibly be. You also need to act professional. You won't always get the biggest part, but all parts are valuable. The connection between dancers is important. Chemistry matters. Drama and screaming at girls does not foster a professional environment. It doesn't encourage healthy development. It doesn't encourage you to work with your peers. It encourages toxic behaviour, mental health problems and burnout. It encourages you to focus on the immediate, without thinking long term. You're encouraged to dance through injury, which is great in the immediate. But if you dance through the wrong injury, you go from needing a few weeks rest and recouperation to being unable to dance again. I suspect that Abby's approach also encouraged eating disorders. You do not need to comment on the body of a growing child. That is not an important aspect of teaching dance. It is not necessary. Teenage girls in particular do not need an authority figure demeaning them.
I knew you were going to absolutely drag these adults, as they should be. Never got into the show and so happy to see somebody stand up for these kids.
But absolutely no one is dragging the viewers! If the show isnt watched, it is not filmed. Everyone who watched it is responsible for that garbage. I’m seriously disappointed she didn’t hammer that responsibility home during this episode. ANY ADULT WHO WATCHED WAS *THE* PROBLEM. Let me add-i mean ADULTS who allowed this to be watched. No one should blame a kid for this. I don’t understand why any parent would allow their kids to watch this. I have kids-it’s difficult as hell to try and monitor their entertainment. But. That’s our job. There’s no excuse for letting your kids watch adults emotionally abuse children for hours in end without standing up and saying “no”. (I had to fight this battle with the damn Kardashian show-it was not fun parenting-but I felt that it was important that my 9 year old avoid that garbage. Parents need to protect their kids-not look the other way because it’s easier).
@@YuckyMama i see your point, but at the time, most of their viewers were the same age as the girls on the show. i’m pretty sure you didn’t understand what abuse and child exploitation was when you were a child/preteen/teenager. although, this argument can be used today, since a lot of people still make fun of clips where they were being verbally abusive to each other/the girls
@@gracegnamoa I completely agree that kids don’t always see/understand abuse because of their age. But. Where are their parents? When my kids were under the age of 12, I had total veto power over what they watched. I remember having full on conversations with my kids about what they watched. I made myself watch a few of their shows to make sure it was appropriate. We didn’t watch the Kardashians and we had conversations about why we didn’t want them to see it. It was actually a great method to calmly discuss both pro/con of shows and honestly we *both* needed to see each other’s side. But a show like Dance? Where it seemed the entire purpose was abuse of little girls? I don’t see how any parent can look the other way when your kid is passively absorbing verbal abuse-then act shocked by bullying behavior in schools. I. Don’t. Get. It.
@@YuckyMama i was eleven when i watched the show. at that time i was happy to see a show that represented the hectic and often abusive and damaging world of competitive dance, since i was a competitive dancer growing up. looking back now, i can’t believe i ever watched that and thought it was okay, along with thinking that my own experience in dance was okay. it’s an extremely gross generalization lacking any nuance to say that EVERYONE who watched the show is to blame for child abuse. i was ELEVEN.
The fact that Abby to this day cannot except anymistajes that she made really frustrates me. She still blames everyone else for what happened. She is still upset that Maddie won't say her name or thank her for being her teacher. I've wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but the thing that got me most recently was that she sold her Pittsburgh studio and had an auction where she was selling everything in the studio. Like the legendary bench from Jill, photos of old students (not even famous ones), trophies, literally everything. You could literally pay to buy this stuff and pay to have it shipped to you. She was keeping all the money from that. That is when I knew just how low she could go and just how bad of a person she is. There are no redeeming qualities.
My ADHD brain simply can't focus or absorb 40 min vids without getting bored UNLESS they're done by Hannah. She is so good at structuring videos and breaking things down in an interesting way. I could listen to her talk about anything and everything for 40+mins
i’m a competitive dancer myself and dance moms really has negatively affecting that part of my life. whenever i tell people i’m a competitive dancer they always ask if it’s like dance moms and if they go to a competition, they’re always disappointed bc it wasn’t anything like the show.
I watched this show as like a preteen and at the time I genuinely wished they showed more of the dancing. I really enjoyed watching competitive dances and they were really talented. Also, I’m so glad you mentioned the sexual exploitation of these literal children. I am also pretty sure this show normalized children being sexualized in competitive dances. You could see the shift as the show gained more popularity and younger and younger girls were put in skimpy costumes and doing very inappropriate dance moves for their ages to songs with sexual meanings. Yes those kinds of dances existed before. There have always been bad dance teachers, but I think it became more normalized. Also, as a competitive dancer we were always warned like you can’t go anywhere alone at competitions because most are completely open to the public and there could be people with awful intentions there. Thank you for making this video. I think dance moms is starting to gain more popularity again and people are rewatching it which I think is a big problem honestly. Also now as an adult I have a very different perspective on a lot of dances that I’ve seen in competitions. Those girls are all underage. Even the “senior” category is 18 and under teenagers. I literally saw a dance once called the garden of Eden and it was an acro dance where the girls were basically just showing off their flexibility to this weird kind of slow slithery song and they were wearing nude leotards with like vines on them. At the time I was like this is a little weird but whatever at least they’re teenagers not kids. But now I’m like no those are still kids! That’s so gross! Why are minors of any age dancing like that or suggesting sexual themes at all!!
I took dance for my entire childhood and our team went to competition several times. I feel so bad for these girls because I had an amazing and kind dance teacher and even now (years later) think of my years dancing as some of my favorite parts of growing up. That these girls were put through this over something that was supposed to be fun is so sad.
Chloe and Nia were the worst targets for Abby, my heart broke for those kids. I also have mad respect for Holly and Christi, especially since Christi is good at holding herself accountable and owning up to things.
Kelly talks about having several instances where she tried to leave and the producers claimed that they'd sue her for everything she had in breech of her contract. Both her and Christy got out before their contracts were up by doing insane shit to get them kicked off. I dont blame them in that sense because they didn't sign up for all that
I worked at a summer day camp in PA at the time the show was airing, and one of my camp kids who was in competitive dance went to a weekend competition that the Dance Moms team was also at. I’ve been sitting here racking my brains, trying to remember what the camper said. From what I recall, she said that Abby really was like that, even when the cameras weren’t rolling, and was nasty to everyone she spoke to. She also said the girls weren’t allowed to interact with anyone outside of their group (even a “hi” or “you want some gum?” was verboten) and that none of the girls seemed to be having fun or enjoying themselves. Her mom’s report on it amounted to basically “I can’t even, those people are out of their minds.” She also alluded to having to get into it a little bit with the producers to make sure her daughter was off-camera and that they knew she had not given consent for her kid to appear on the show. I just remember going “hoooooo boy, so glad I didn’t get into dance! Jeebus!”
i’m a dancer, and when i was younger i danced at a comp that the aldc was at. i wasn’t in their age division, but from what i can remember the whole thing was rigged. like they weren’t even really competing. they filmed the dances and fake awards and left.
@@quenchedcherry4369 depends on what year you're talking about there's proof to prove you wrong if it was from early seasons and there's also no proof you're telling the truth
it’s weird to think about this show bc it was huge right around the time that i became intensely involved in competitive dance. i remember all of the moms from my team’s age group all got along really well and were always willing to drop anything and help the kids or each other. and the dancers all got along really well too, there wasn’t a toxic competitive environment that we were constantly subjected to. then the moms from the “next generation” of dancers that started competing when i was just about graduated started acting so differently - fighting with each other physically/verbally, sucking up to the studio owner & basically doing whatever it took to get their kid better opportunities. and the kids! i think my old teacher had to start having regular conversations to try and diffuse tension between girls who were jealous of each other’s front row position in a dance or who were getting special attention from teachers. it feels like this show had a ripple effect in the world of competitive dance and toxic behavior like what was seen in dance moms became much more commonplace in the average studio. as an adult, it makes me sad for the kids left at my old studio bc a major part of what made dance so special for me was the relationships i had with everyone :-(
THE IMPACT THIS SHOW HAD ON THE DANCE WORLD. I remember seeing the changes in choreo and dances at comps and the clear inspiration from Dance Moms. And the way we pitted and took sides because of the editing. Actively hating Maddie because she was favoured and rooting for Chloe to beat her. It’s honestly wild. I remember when they performed in Australia and the way they made it seem like they were going to this incredibly prestigious award ceremony when it was definitely not 😂😂
Just to play devil's advocate on one part- the Suicide Hotline dance was in honor of another young dancer that did indeed take her own life. And she was a friend to some of the then teenage dancers. I do think they were old enough to handle that, especially when they were literally going through that situation in their realities. I am a dance teacher and I was a competitive dancer...last year one of my 10 year old dancers lost her life in a car accident. Our whole studio had to go through this tremendous loss. We dedicated the season to her, had a grief counseling session, had her name embroidered on our team jackets, and created several dances in her honor. We even now have a bench outside that the kids designed that we painted together on the one year anniversary of her death. Yes, some topics are very heavy...but sometimes it is their reality, whether they are mentally and emotionally prepared for it.
There's an interview somewhere that Cathy says she and Abby were acquaintances/colleagues in the dance world since Ohio and Pennsylvania aren't that far apart. She didn't want Vivi-Anne to be featured heavily on the show, so that's why she wasn't in it frequently. (I personally also think she was too young to really compete, as was Mackenzie at the beginning.) Same thing with her husband - he didn't want to be involved in it at all and wanted to remain anonymous. ETA that I believe Vivi also went to regular in-person school throughout the duration of the show and that dance was more of an extracurricular for her, which is why she's not seen much beyond her mother requesting she not be featured. And looking back now, that may have been the best decision given all the trauma the other girls went through. Vivi-Anne seems like a well-rounded teen today.
Please do a video update on Ryan and Haley! Ryan not shipping out merch and stealing his designs from a small artist, their "homestead goods" company was completely abandoned, the covid wedding, etc!!
The original parents didn’t have a choice because they thought they were filming a documentary. They were locked in a six season contract. I blame the newer moms more bc they watched the show and still decided to put their kid in that environment. Also, I feel like Abby didn’t care for any of the girls, even Maddie. As soon as she realized that Maddie was getting so famous that she couldn’t profit off of her and take credit, she started putting another student(Brynn) on the pedestal. She just wanted credit and money. That’s why she wanted to be involved in the girls’ careers outside of dance and was mad at Nia for not letting her manage her music
11 y rs ago I remember taking 3 days off in college to binge watch season 1 of dances moms 😂 The girls were SO talented and the best part imo were the dances even if a lot of the competitions were fake. Holly has always been the most reasonable normal mom and it always PAINED me to see how Abby treated Nia. My heart always went out to all the girls because it's all too much for kids. I used to compete in piano competitions from 7 to 18 and the competitiveness is part of the reason I didn't study professionally. It broke my brain a bit. My situation is a bit different because my parents are incredible and literally never pushed me to practice or compete. I begged to study classical piano from ages 5-7 before they decided to let me study. I didn't unpack how much that part of my childhood influenced how self-critical I was until I was my mid twenties. I still play nearly every day now, but for my own enjoyment 😊
I did a meet and greet with Paige and her mom back in the day, right before the season they announced they were leaving. They were actually so nice! Being a dancer at that time of the show, I related entirely too much to Paige. It’s really hard to talk about how damaging Dance Moms was.
I was close to the same age as these girls while this show was airing and I was also a compete with dancer. I was horrified by the show back then and was even more bothered by how much people loved it. It was disheartening to see that people cared more about entertainment then the well-being of children.
I remember watching this show as a child and not really understanding the full weight of everything that I was watching. To put it into perspective I’m a month older than Maddie, so I’m the same age as most of the original cast. Looking back on it I’m amazed at the length of time this show was allowed to go on for. I’m not shocked that the girls are speaking out against the abuse that they faced. I just wish that someone had done something in those moments.
This is a wonderful commentary of dance moms. Absolutely well done! Maybe I missed this, but I wish Ava Michelle was mentioned in this as well. She was a victim of Abby on multiple seasons when dancing with her. She was extremely ridiculed over her height to where Abby called her a praying mantis. I find it funny how she eventually moved on and starred in the movie Tall Girl, literally rubbing it in Abby’s face that her height is by no means a negative trait!
I’m late to the party! But here is more explanation on 23:42 : 1. When the moms signed the contract, they were inexperienced to the legal complications of it and were tricked into signing onto a 6 season long contract. If they were more knowledgeable about the danger of these contracts I doubt they would sign them, and there has been numerous rumors that the moms tried to leave after season 1 (believing it was supposed to be a short docuseries), but couldnt because the producers showed them what the contract ACTUALLY said. 2. If they broke the contract, its not about being kicked off the show, as they were trying to get off in the first place. It’s more about the insane debt they’d get from being fined hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Although it is fair to make the argument that a kid’s childhood is worth more than money, it is a tough spot to be in as you could be in debt for the rest of your life and unable to provide a life for your kid if you were fined that amount. I hope that explains why the contracts were such a big issue in why they couldn’t leave
I’ve been cursed with Dance Moms being one of my comfort shows (don’t ask me why 😂) It’s definitely grounded me during times of high anxiety which I thank it for but the flaws are so hard to ignore. Those producers were EEEVVVIL.
oh my GOD i remember being at school as a little kid, watching the second season of dance moms with my mom, and hearing at the end of s2 e8 (when they do the "coming up on dance moms" bit), abby saying "the audience needs to think you're *nude* ". literally the only thing all the girlies were talking abt the next day
So, as someone who was in competitive dance at the time the show came out, this show absolutely turned the already insanely toxic environment at the studio I went to up to twelve. Like holy hell, we even did the pyramid thing like twice. The studio runner revered Abbys methods as inspiration, which only made everyones lives worse. I'm glad to see people realizing how absolutely toxic and abusive the situations the kids in this show were put through and I hope anyone who has dealt with the same things is doing better
I’m living for this. I was in the non-competitive dance world growing up and avoided this show like the plague when it was on. Then recently, I decided to binge the series and I am HORRIFIED with no outlet to rant because the show is old news!! 🤣
I am actually so impressed that you covered dance moms so well, and you are not a fan. As a kid who was a big fan and now as an adult who sees how messed up everything was, I'm really impressed. but I think you got one thing wrong - contracts. Christi and Kelly on their podcast talked a lot how the contracts didn't let them leave the show. Kelly only got out because Abby called the police on her and producer still tried to get her back on the show after the big fight. No one really knows how Christie left, but also Melissa said that after she and her kids left, it took her six months to get out of the contract. Those contracts were no joke, Kelly, Christi and Jill tried to leave like a 100 times but but always been forced to film. Also about the inappropriate dances, moms always were fighting with the producers, but couldn't do anything about it.
i feel like you could do a whole part 2 on Maddie Ziegler‘s abusive relationship with Sia. She was a grown woman having “sleepovers” with a young teen girl. absolutely disgusting.
I was a former company dance kid who loved to dance but was relentlessly bullied by coaches and teammates (and their moms). So I never got into this show because it hits a little too close to my most traumatic experiences. But as always I love to see what’s going on with these reality shows through a Smokeyglow filter lol
I rewatched some of Dance Moms with my roommates and seeing how the girls were treated was pretty appalling. I actually saw an Abbey Lee Dance company store here in LA recently which was wild. It is nice to see that a lot of the girls seem to be doing well as adults.
Glad to see you're doing well Hannah. My sister used to dance and we did one Bollywood (Gaana more precisely) routine together and even though she was never professional, I swear it brought out a demon in her every time because she needed it to be PERFECT. It always put me off cos dancers are just competitive to the point that they will literally belittle you. I love my sister but I refused to dance with her again after that one routine 😂
Competitive dancer from ages 4-18 here! 🙋🏼♀️ Towards the higher age, dancers had 5-8 dances every year. We would work on these 2.5 min dances for MONTHS. And perform them all at every single competition, and then start all over the next year with a new set of dances. Learning a new dance for each competition is so weird and stressful. I remember watching their dances as a child and thinking how wildly different it was from my competition dance life. One of the similarities though is the hierarchy of dancers. Abby Lee made her dancers’ rankings very apparent. From my experience, the rankings were more implied vs explicit. You knew exactly which dancers would be featured more, who would be in the front, which dancers would get a special jumping or leaping section, which ones would be in a turning section, and sadly, which ones would be more fillers. This rankings aspect is one of the only things that holds true (when comparing dance moms to “normal” comp. Dance) from my experience.
I don’t know much about dance but I just find it strange that they thought it was a good idea to have children dance in a routine about Rosa parks when they probably have very little idea about what that event meant in history and how it affected people afterwards.
They had Brooke do a dance that was the diary of Anne Frank and Brooke and Kelly didn't know who she was. There were other dances too that they didn't know the background or were the wrong age demographic for when they did them
My mom and I used to LOVE watching this show, we would sit down and watch it weekly. I don't remember which later season, but at some point we both agreed to just skip through the drama & abusive parts to get to the dancing. It's wild to hear that so many people also focused on the dancing!
Aaahhh!!! I love this type of content! It’s like a mix of your love is blind vid and your vids about family blogs. This is literally just in time for me to listen to while I fall asleep.
Dance is actually so so traumatizing. You feel like your value is tied to where you are in the formation. You feel like it’s because you’re not trying hard enough, if you just put in more hours at the studio, you would be more of an asset to the team. It breeds so much competitiveness among the girls, which breeds tension. It’s never enough what you’re doing, it’s so psychologically damaging just inherently. I danced with someone who used to be on the show, and wondered why she stuck with it
In defense of the mothers who I do give 10% of the blame is the fact that when it comes to costuming it wasn't their choice. The mothers have admitted that they hated a lot of these costumes, and that they didn't have a choice, which is very true due to the fact production picked costumes and they would get fined if they refused. These mothers due need to take part of the blame but at the same time that contracts does keep you locked down and a lot of people are stupid enough to sign contracts with no knowledge. I don't want to deflect blame from them but it's the truth, the moms even stated that a lot of them didn't want to do the show, in Holly's case it was something Nia had to beg her to do because Holly didn't want to. Christi and Kelly were hunted down by production basically because Abby sent them away to a competition during casting and production wanted them. I just think yes we need to give them blame for not being knowledgeable, but we need to remember the fact we don't know everything, and that we don't know what's in that contract and if the things that trapped them were hidden or not. I will also say certain moms mainly Kelly tried to leave the show each season every couple of weeks after seeing the mental toll it was taking on her kids especially Paige but production wouldn't allow it and she had to literally hit Abby and sue her in order to get out.
Former competitive dancer here! Very excited to hear you talk about this because I never really know what the dance world looks like from the outside 🫣
HANNAH!!! thank god you're back, i've been binging your videos from 3-4 years ago omg i remember watching the first couple seasons when i was around 12 or 13, i wanted to be a competitive so bad... a few years later i realized how the themes for the dances were so weird and felt like it didn't belong in those competitions with children
Being a competitive dancer in the era of dance moms was wild…. People putting their children in dance with the HOPES it was similar only to find it was nothing like that at all. I was a competitive dancer for 13 years and while every once in a while you found a “dance mom” and not a mom of a dancer- it was such a positive light in my life.
“You just said that my daughter looks miserable so maybe we should put Kalani in her place!” “No I never said that!” “Yes you most certainly did!” “NO I DIDNT DINGBAT LISTEN! I SAID BROOKE DID YOUR MOTHER-“ “GET YOUR FINGER OUT OF MY FACE!!!” “GIRLS OUT THE ROOM!!!!!”
I seem to remember reading at the time that the kids couldn’t be paid by the show (because then they wouldn’t be able to compete at the competitions because they would have been classed as professional dancers) so they were compensated with phones/iPads etc… sketchy. Loved the video, this show had a huge affect on my own dance education looking back!
i think its important to note that kelly went so far as to sue the production team in season 3.5/4 in order to get out of the original 6 season contract they were all made to sign. and christie was also able to get out a season before the contract expired, so to their credit, they did make a big effort to get their kids out of there.
the thing that always made me mad was where were the dad's/the other parent when all of this was happening? Obviously the balme can fall mainly on the mom/whatever parent was on the show, because they were the ones witnessing it live and choosing to let it happen, and the dad/non dance parent's wouldn't have seen the worst of it, but it's also their job as a parent to protect their children as much as it is the dance parent's??
I just can never get over the awful things Nia went through. Just the actual gaslighting the other moms did to Holly, perpetuating all these stereotypes as if any of them knew more about what it meant to be a Black woman than Holly and Nia, its insane.
I saw this in my recommended and got so excited! Discovered your channel through the evolution series and now you're my go-to for compelling listening when I work overnights as a cake decorator! Thank you for your service!!
I was a competitive dancer when this was ALL THE RAGE! It was crazy the effect it had on how we danced and what we wore, and I was their age or a little bit older at the time. I'm glad we can all see it for what it is now
Dang I didn’t realize that Abby got her certification taken so early in the show. I’m glad at least an outside force saw how cruel she was
When they did their trips to Australia and it was advertised that there were master classes there were petitions etc started by people in the dance industry to try and stop her doing it because of the methods shown on the show
But the sad thing is though you don’t need a certification to teach dance. Anyone can teach it. That’s why she remains a dance teacher
i can’t understand how the show even continued if she wasn’t a certified educator anymore. she was literally just an actor at that point
@@catshugging unfortunately that's how shows have been for years...the main one is "Dr." Phil
@@BrittanyDeNee22 no literally like yeah he did get his doctorate BUT his certification that you have renew to stay in practice if i’m not mistaken expired and he didn’t even get it renewed
i can’t imagine the trauma maddie experienced from the fan base. as someone who has been a dance moms fan since the first season, maddie has been absolutely ridiculed and torn apart because she was the favorite on the show and people wanted chloe to beat her. i cannot even begin to explain how bad her treatment was from the fan base. now people post tikTok’s saying “maturing is realizing maddie wasn’t that bad” like… yeah NO SHIT. she was literally 8 years old.
exactly!! growing up as i watched the show, i’ve always been a maddie girl because i found her dances to be so beautiful and thought of her to be very hardworking and talented, but it was sad to see the amount of hate she was getting when she was a CHILD. people were excusing the abuse abby did to her because she was the “favorite” when in reality the girl’s trauma shouldn’t have been a competition in the first place.
They never should have pitted any of those kids against one another. Even without the show’s interference with that people would have chosen favorites and been cruel. So sad.
The kids were all pitted against one another. The fan base also had a large portion of people saying “nias not that good” “chloes not that good” etc. I agree with you, but let’s not forget that the producers and Abby are heavily responsible for drama surrounding those children, and many of the fans were children as well.
@@marissashuler7199 totally! but everyone always points those aspects out where as maddie’s trauma is always undermined. in fact, i’ve never seen anyone talk about how poorly maddie was treated by the fan base (i’m sure someone has but i’ve never seen it) so i just wanted to point that out.
Unrelated (sort of) but damn does this comment make me feel old lol- and I’m in my twenties dammit!! But I remember when the internet was saying that a sign of maturation was realizing Jim Halpert was kind of a jerk. Imma go get into a geriatric ward (which I’m cool with because I love and adore and work with the geriatric population everyday… probably bc I relate to them lol, blue collar kids with WWII grandparents understand)
It’s also insane to me that to this day, Abby not only still defends her actions but expects those girls to get on their hands and knees and thank her for their success as if they weren’t the ones who payed the price for it.
That is 🤯
None of those girls would be anything without Abby. I am pretty certain Maddie was in Sia’s video because of the show. Sia was a fan.
@@smileyfan16 and Abby wouldn’t be anything without those girls. The show got its notoriety because Abby tormented those girls, they paid the price and owe Abby nothing.
@@smileyfan16Wrong. If anything Lifetime made them famous, not Abby.
@@smileyfan16 Sia was a fan of Maddie, not the show. Sia has spoken heavily against Abby and has talked about how Abby traumatized Maddie. Just because Lifetime put Maddie on the map, on a show that also starred Abby doesn’t mean anything. I don’t give a fuck if she taught her everything she knows, Abby did a lot to her as well that would’ve broken her if she stayed.
It’s very telling how Maddie, who was known as the “favorite” won’t even utter a word about the show or abby now. Chloe and Maddie speak about how they barely remember anything from their childhood which is a response to trauma. I feel so deeply for all of them.
I've also heard one of the girls say recently that even if the moms understood the drama was staged for the show, the kids didn't understand that. So fake or not, these girls regularly saw their mothers hating each other.
@@Lynsey17It wasn't all staged. I've listened to their podcasts over the years and yes, the producers instigated situations but not all. Look at what happened to Kelli, even Paige sued Abby when she was 12. Abby did try to sabotage Nia's singing career. She did put down Chloe's looks (among many other things) she also put down girls from other teams... That fight with Kira was real. Please don't say it was staged or scripted because it wasn't. Poor Chloe, Paige, Nia went to counseling for years.
can we talk about how Maddy Zeigler went from being abused by Abby to being groomed by Sia? literally being manipulated staying with her and sharing a bed....
jfc 😭😭 i had no clue that’s insanity these children in the entertainment industry are failed by everybody around them its so heartbreaking
For real! It’s so weird how so many people think Maddy & Sia’s relationship is normal. There is no way in hell any sane parent would allow an adult to treat their child like Sia did Maddy & not think it was inappropriate.
If Sia was a man people would be losing their minds.
Poor Maddy
@@mkaverage4773 100% I believe Sia is the modern day Michael Jackson
This!! It’s so bizarre!
Anytime I think of dance moms I can’t help but feel for Nia 💔
Same😢
i feel for all the children but the blatant racism agaisnt Nia just breaks my heart man
In the last season when her and Chole get their OG jackets and Jill gets snippy about it and nia goes “it’s fine Jill i don’t get much” it breaks my hearts
I barely even watched the show but even I knew that Nia was constantly getting the shaft!
Being the only black person in the group will always be an awful experience🫤 I really hope she’s ok and thriving wherever she is
It blows my mind that Paige’s attempt to sue Abby for abuse was let go for insufficient evidence. Just in the show alone there’s so many examples of it. I guess maybe they can’t really use reality tv as evidence since it’s sometimes edited but still
i completely agree with you but i think it had to do with the film itself being 'entertainment'. i think mackzboss has a video on it if you wanna learn more
I don’t know about law but probably the fact that it was a reality show was the reason they failed
It’s known that a lot of reality shows fake storylines, that’s probably what the defense used to claim that everything was just for the show
abby literally threw a chair at her
I just sort of feel bad for the original moms, because they were just everyday moms in Pittsburgh and had no tv experience and had no idea what kind of attorneys they needed to protect them when they were approached. Lifetime totally exploited them in the beginning and knew these moms had no idea what they were doing. I think that’s why they were locked in for the first 4 seasons. After that Christi and Kelly left but any mom who saw this show and put their kids on in like 2015-19 are the real problem.
Yeah they genuinely had no clue what they were getting into for that 6 episode “documentary” only to not realize they were signing their lives away for 6 years. But everyone from Jill onwards knew EXACTLY what this show was and purposely went on it for the fame regardless of what their kids experienced. Kelly & Christi have major faults for sure but they were the only ones actively fighting to get off the show as soon as they legally could, I still have some side eye towards Holly for keeping Nia on it as long as she did.
@@sioparr it’s so wild because this show was so problematic, but then it turned into a completely different beast after Maddie became so famous and people just wanted to be apart of it even more. Unfortunately, the producers just had a special way of breaking people and nobody really won coming out of it of their newer kids.
this!!!! all the ogs mom had nooo clue what they were getting themselves into, then couldn’t get out of the contracts! so i hate when people put the blame on them instead of abby!? from listening to christi and kelly’s podcast they make it seem like when the show started Abby just became more mean and volatile each week/episode!
@@sioparrI don’t want to excuse Holly’s actions, but I thought the reason they stayed was because Nia wanted to stay with Abby since she made her better (despite the trauma). But is that true?
Okay one important note about the moms not removing their daughters from the exploitation is they all tried very hard. One of the EP’s got into one of the mom’s cars when she was trying to remove their daughters and said to her “I will own your house, your car, and destroy your children” so they were literally coerced into staying
Thats no excuse for letting that nasty woman abuse their kids. Those parents should be deeply embarrassed.
@@kloveandpeace8290 they were financially and emotionally abused. The moms signed on for 6 episodes and found out they had to stay for 4 seasons or lose everything
@@kloveandpeace8290f there were ever an excuse to leave your child in a horrible situation and try to support them through it, it would be when the alternative is homelessness. Like be fucking for real. As a parent would you rather say “I know this is horrible but I’ll be here with you and can help you” or “to get you out of this situation we will lose everything including our home.” Like do you think a horrible dance teacher or homelessness is worse for an 8 year old? Get serious.
i don’t know if i believe a judge would let that stand- the EP taking everything
@@bitterswtmocha149 you must not be familiar with the American justice system and how extraordinarily horrible it is.
I would love another video on this, discussing other cast members on the show, the dangerous relationship that the show fostered with Maddy & Sia, the career shoot-offs (singing/acting) that Abby tried to destroy for each girl, etc. I know there are so many things to unpack in this show & would love some part 2 & part 3 videos.
The Sia situation is so creepy. How does Maddy end up in two emotionally inappropriate relationships with abusive women? That’s f^cked up.
@@belindapaul9828 i mean... It's f'd up but most ppl who are abus*d end up in more abus* bc they think it's normal
@@belindapaul9828 because her mother was in it for the fame and fortune and not to protect the child
@@ktfearless 💯💯💯
Yessss
i remember hearing on the podcast that kelly actually talked to a lawyer multiple to try and get out of the show throughout seasons 1-4 and was told each time that there is nothing they could do and the only way she was able to leave was when she “broke her contract” by getting into a physical altercation with abby. i believe the moms are telling some truth when they talk about the contracts because other moms have said the same
Always a wonderful surprise when I see the notification of a new uploads from Smokey Glow. Knowing your history of calling out the exploitation of children online, I KNOW this is going to be a great video. I couldn't sit through Dance Moms, so I stuck to clips or reviews. Watching those kids getting screamed at and listening to the mothers whine like spoiled brats who didn't get their way just made me too anxious.
Edit: I was NOT disappointed. Thank you for your closing statement. Abbey did NOT love and care for those children. She used, abused, and exploited those girls. She bullied and pit everyone against each other in some of the worst ways. She never should have had a career dealing with children.
It’s wild that those “sexy” costumes and provocative dances *still* happen at dance competitions for children ages 5-15. It’s very rare to find a dance company that gives their dancers age appropriate costumes, dance routines, and song choices.
its not sexy, costumes are meant to show off the body and form. i was a competitive dancer for many years and trust me other dancers, judges and most parents didnt have issues with costumes. its outside people that have no idea what they are talking about that sexualize children. not trying to attack you im sorry if it sounds that way
@@karliekalinowski6593 Not at all! It’s a conversation that needs to be had. There are absolutely people from the outside making issues out of nothing. I was a competitive dancer as well. I can fully support a costume that enhances the dance and highlights the dancers form. I’m talking more specifically about the little string bikini looking costumes on very small children. A 2 piece crop top/dance short costume will absolutely highlight the dancers form in the same way a bra and brief/bikini bottom would. There’s just a line that we’re getting a little to close to I think.
I used to be an office manager at a dance studio and I was always super grossed out by the way a lot of young girls were dressed. I know your clothes are supposed to show your form in dance, but a lot of people took it waaaaaay too far.
I did dance for a few years when I was younger and I remember being annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to have my belly showing cause I loved crop tops 😂 but now obviously I can see why they did that
@@karliekalinowski6593Coming from someone who did dance for twelve years, there is absolutely no reason for little kids to wear booty shorts and bras and have a face full of makeup. maybe it’s hard for you to see it because it sounds like you had either a good experience or at least a history with competitive dance, but we need to call a spade a spade.
Basically for their contracts, it was for a certain amount of seasons and they weren’t allowed to get kicked off. There is a video of Abby Lee saying something along the lines of “because they couldn’t leave, I treated them however I wanted to”
Yeah and I’m pretty sure if they broke their contracts they could face legal repercussions
@SmokeyGlow687 girl u tweakin
That’s exactly why whenever I see comments and videos from people asking why the mothers didn’t just leave…..I can tell that they didn’t know and understand the legal issues of it because of the contracts
I played a competitive sport for close to 10 years starting in elementary school. I can tell you, this type of abusive behavior is sadly widespread in the sports world. There’s no checks and balances or oversight. Coaches do and say whatever they want and there’s nothing done to protect the children. It has taken me years to get to a better mental space after experiencing so much trauma from my volleyball days. Thank you for highlighting this type of disgusting behavior. More people need to look into the world of competitive sports to expose the rampant abuse
Yes! 100% agree with this. I remember not feeling like there was anything "wrong" with Abby's treatment of the girls back when the show originally aired because it echoed my experiences of participating in competitive marching band in high school. In retrospect, my band director was incredibly abrasive (to say the absolute least) and fostered a heinously toxic environment, and this took years of unpacking (and therapy) to process.
For sure, I wasn't very athletically gifted growing up and was horribly bullied by teachers and other parents when I participated in sports. In my early teens I had a horse riding instructor who was EXACTLY like Abby Lee, she had no business being around children and ruined my self esteem. There are just so many people 'teaching' and working with children who shouldn't be and I agree - it needs to be monitored, these should be safe and confidence building environments!
Thanks for putting this comment. As someone more in the arts, I tend to stay tunnel visioned and think this is just a dance/performing arts problem. It’s good to continue this conversation for other competitive sports, and not just the artistic ones. I hope you continue healing in your mental health journey 🥰
yes 100%! i was a competitive dancer growing up and i liked dance moms because the way the show romanticized the abuse the girls suffered helped me in a poor and unhealthy attempt to cope with the abuse i suffered. my teachers would hit us, verbally abuse us, and, yes, often sexualize us in dances and costumes that were not age appropriate.
@@izzyilliterate physical violence also occurred!? this is just beyond words to me.
i am so sorry you and everyone else who went through stuff like that, experienced this. good that you and other talk about it today
As a former dancer, I loved DM initially. Life became hectic and lost track of the show until a few years back. I couldn't believe I ever found the treatment of those poor children acceptable. It also made me question many of my own experiences and realized how they had normalized outright ab*sive behavior. I know you're going do this subject justice, Hannah. Also, side note: happy to see your beautiful face 💞
TW abuse I know a lot of people whose dance teachers would hit them. Mine were always really nice but it’s insane that it’s so common.
As a former professional there was a lot of arguing about that for me. I was in therapy for my PTSD causing experiences and I couldn't understand why no one else saw it. I am glad that time has caught up there but it's absolutely hard when the reason it's not seen is because abuse is normal. I'm still sorting out the less abuse isn't abuse side of things and I hope you have had good care. To be clear my abuse history wasn't dance related. I didn't have professional training until I was a professional myself. Oddly enough that abusive shit doesn't happen to another adult. Wild isn't it?
me too omg
I’m an ex dancer and I loved Dance Moms at first because it really did remind me of the stupid drama that happened at my own studio. But over time my teachers gained inspiration from Abby Lee and became more and more abusive. It was to the point that my teacher made me and my sister both dance through serious injuries that only made them worse… my sister was literally in a wheelchair from it. Screw Dance Moms.
i’m convinced my life is a simulation bc i started binging dance moms and now i’m seeing dance moms stuff EVERYWHERE
That's how the algorithm works.
SAME I THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY
@@X._.COCO._.X The algorithm doesn't make it so creators you follow make timely videos.
I get what you mean, Jessica. Just remember- simulation or not, our experience is our realty💕
It's the algorithm
Same! I’ve been bingeing all of Smokey Glows stuff since I recently discovered her.. meanwhile my 12yo has started Dance Moms from the beginning.
Now she posts a video about it! The timing is *chefs kiss*
Brooke went on two dates during the show and the second one was with a guy that was later arrested for sexual assault charges, there was also someone they all worked with in the industry who also got arrested for doing stuff to underage CHILDREN
There honestly could be several 45 minute videos covering the many different forms of psychological abuse the girls went though- from other dancers being brought in specifically to beat them, their weight and even scales being in the studio, producers creating drama, maddie's clear special treatment, etc. No wonder so many of the girls don't dance anymore, or quit for a long time.
I was a dancer for 30+ years. I have been out of it for a bit, but plan to get back into it soon! I competed against Abbie Lee Miller and Candy Apples “back in the day” (late 90’s into 2000’s). They were cruel, rude, loud, and bullying even then. Everyone knew to just stay out of their way; we always had to deal with their shit when they competed. They were always complaining about awards, wanted their way, etc.
I competed against candy apples several times…. Do you remember the blinged out denim jackets they all wore lol they were always rude it was insane
„We cannot spread this narrative that it was just her being tough on the kids… SHE WAS ABUSIVE”
I strive for the ability to formulate a point as well as Hanna does
i think another reason why dance moms was so successful was that they were just regular people from pittsburgh. they weren't in hollywood with six degrees of separation of big names in show business. christi and kelly talk about this a bit in the back to the barre podcast.
I have childhood trauma from a ballet studio and teacher that operated a lot like Abby. I was watching the show after I quit dance and hadn’t fully registered that my experience was trauma, until I watched this show. I saw myself in those girls, particularly I saw myself a lot in Chloe & Paige and how often they were yelled at and never deserved to be treated like that (and so was I. none of those kids deserved any of that). So in a roundabout way, I’m thankful I was exposed to Dance Moms when I was since I was able to start therapy after high school and could identify my experience with abuse having seen such a similar situation on TV. And I can’t even imagine how worse it must’ve been for these young victims since their abuse was broadcast so publicly.
i'm sorry you went through this. this is just absurd and child exploitation through and through
Seriously I remember being obsessed with it as a kid and now look back thinking how they actively made money off of little girls trauma, like they filmed their panic attacks, being verbally abused- everything. I’d love to see the paperwork that was signed for them to get away with this
I can kind of explain why Kelly would have brought her kids to Abby (as someone who was a VERY big name in the dance moms fandom for over seven years and was a certified expert on all things dance moms): none of the girls directly worked with abby. She wasn't an active teacher for most of the kids, and most of them had only met her a couple of times before the show. It was mainly other teachers working with the kids. If she was a more active teacher in Kelly's era, Kelly would have known about her abuse, but been fine taking her to this dance studio (also, this was likely one of the only studios in the area since the east coast is not as big in terms of competition dance, the epicenter is LA and Phoenix) she would've been fine with the other staff members working with her girls.
Also back in the day Abby was the choreographer for the competition team that she started, she wasn't the dance teacher. Christi said that the reason that the sign out the front said Reign Studio is that if you took classes there that was the name of the studio, Abby Lee was only used if you were on one of the competition teams.
Plus it wasn’t just that Abby was her former dance teacher, the hylands and millers were close families in general. Like attending each other’s big events outside the studio. It’s why it was especially horrific for Paige and Brooke (and Kelly) to be treated to a worse and worse degree after having such a good relationship.
Also studio 19 was another pretty competitive studio in Pittsburgh, that had been direct competition w aldc before the show.
Kelly said on her podcast that Abby and Brooke had a great relationship she was the Maddie before Maddie that’s also why she didn’t have an issue with Abby they were close she had a good relationship with Abby’s family and vice versa
the way I didn’t know Abby became uncertified in dance during the show…. WOWWWW
And when the world needed her most, she appeared 😭🙌🏻
They also had different contracts with Abby, the season that the show started Christi and Chloe were under contract to Abby because Chloe had won a title and if they left before the term of the title they had to pay Abby $100,000 if they left before that competition year was up. Christi and Kelly have said that the times that Abby was yelling that if you leave you owe me $100,000 she wasn't kidding, that was a part of the contract that you signed with Abby saying that you were competing for the season and that was the penalty if you moved midseason.
Season 4 Christi, Kelly and their girls weren't competing with Abby Lee and wasn't enough to get them off the show, it took Kelly having the physical fight with Abby and Christi having the argument over Chloe at the end of season 4 for both of them to get out of their contracts. Melissa and Maddie have said that it 2 years behind the scenes for them to get out of their contract.
Don't forget that when the people from season 1 signed their contracts they thought that they were only doing a show for 6 weeks and so didn't understand all the clauses that were in the contracts which was for 4 years with an option for another 4. The only reason that Jess and JoJo could leave so easily was that Jess worked out that with them being in LA the producers hadn't lodged their contracts correctly for child contracts so when they wanted to leave they did, someone (I think Jess) has said that it only applied to people who started on the show after they moved to LA but also after Jess did that the producers fixed that loophole.
Cathy has said that she only thought it was going to be the 6 week thing and she didn't want to do the show longer than that because it interrupted her running her studio too much. She ended up agreeing to being the 'competition' to the girls as that was the only way that they would release her and Vivi from their contracts.
I started to watch the show with my mom because I did cheer as kid & we've had a ton of discussions about the dynamic of the moms that rallied behind all of us. But also, because we have a shared love of dance.
Every single one of those kids was tormented in different ways. Chloe was constantly compared to Maddie & told she would never be good enough. Maddie was held to such a high standard and pit against Chloe. Her relationships with adults at the time was always very weird to me, both with Abby and Sia frankly. Nia experienced micro-aggressions and even blatant racist comments along with also being told she would never be good enough. Holly was clearly the most successful in her personal career and was routinely demonized for daring to have a job outside of Dance Moms. Brooke and Paige were bullied because of the relationship Abby had with Kelly. She was notorious for taking her frustrations with the parents out on the children and the Hylands are a prime example of much of that rage. They were never held in higher regard and were constantly bullied at the hands of Abby.
Not to mention all of the body shaming that goes into not just this show, but performance/dance culture as a whole. Abby making comments about the bodies of literal children, especially in the things they could not control. ie, the reason why the movie Tall Girl is even a thing. The girl in that movie was shamed for her arms being too long. Literally, what?
Overall, I feel bad for all of these kids.
I studied ballet for years, from the age of 3. I had an excellent teacher and for me dance was just a fun thing I did. I loved it and I gained a lot from dance, but it's not something that was ever going to become a career.
After I stopped doing ballet, I watched a bit of dance moms and I was appalled. Abby behaves in a way that's so contrasted with my experiences. I did some teaching of the little ones, and under my teacher's leadership I learned how to instruct. The emphasis was on gentle correction and loads of praise. Every girl should walk out with something to work on for next time and praise for something she did well.
There's no screaming and shouting. The school didn't do competitions. We had performances, but it was something to work towards and we weren't pitted against each other.
I didn't ever go professional. A disproportionate number of my class did. I think that has a lot to do with the environment that was fostered. Your classmates are your colleagues. In a professional company, you want your colleagues to be the best they can be so that your performance as a whole is the best it can possibly be. You also need to act professional. You won't always get the biggest part, but all parts are valuable. The connection between dancers is important. Chemistry matters.
Drama and screaming at girls does not foster a professional environment. It doesn't encourage healthy development. It doesn't encourage you to work with your peers. It encourages toxic behaviour, mental health problems and burnout. It encourages you to focus on the immediate, without thinking long term. You're encouraged to dance through injury, which is great in the immediate. But if you dance through the wrong injury, you go from needing a few weeks rest and recouperation to being unable to dance again. I suspect that Abby's approach also encouraged eating disorders. You do not need to comment on the body of a growing child. That is not an important aspect of teaching dance. It is not necessary. Teenage girls in particular do not need an authority figure demeaning them.
Thank you!! My dance teachers were like gentle grandmothers and I adored them!! Abby made me furious and I was so shocked and disgusted!!
I knew you were going to absolutely drag these adults, as they should be. Never got into the show and so happy to see somebody stand up for these kids.
Agree👏👏
But absolutely no one is dragging the viewers! If the show isnt watched, it is not filmed. Everyone who watched it is responsible for that garbage.
I’m seriously disappointed she didn’t hammer that responsibility home during this episode.
ANY ADULT WHO WATCHED WAS *THE* PROBLEM. Let me add-i mean ADULTS who allowed this to be watched. No one should blame a kid for this. I don’t understand why any parent would allow their kids to watch this. I have kids-it’s difficult as hell to try and monitor their entertainment. But. That’s our job. There’s no excuse for letting your kids watch adults emotionally abuse children for hours in end without standing up and saying “no”. (I had to fight this battle with the damn Kardashian show-it was not fun parenting-but I felt that it was important that my 9 year old avoid that garbage. Parents need to protect their kids-not look the other way because it’s easier).
@@YuckyMama i see your point, but at the time, most of their viewers were the same age as the girls on the show. i’m pretty sure you didn’t understand what abuse and child exploitation was when you were a child/preteen/teenager. although, this argument can be used today, since a lot of people still make fun of clips where they were being verbally abusive to each other/the girls
@@gracegnamoa I completely agree that kids don’t always see/understand abuse because of their age. But. Where are their parents? When my kids were under the age of 12, I had total veto power over what they watched. I remember having full on conversations with my kids about what they watched. I made myself watch a few of their shows to make sure it was appropriate. We didn’t watch the Kardashians and we had conversations about why we didn’t want them to see it. It was actually a great method to calmly discuss both pro/con of shows and honestly we *both* needed to see each other’s side. But a show like Dance? Where it seemed the entire purpose was abuse of little girls? I don’t see how any parent can look the other way when your kid is passively absorbing verbal abuse-then act shocked by bullying behavior in schools. I. Don’t. Get. It.
@@YuckyMama i was eleven when i watched the show. at that time i was happy to see a show that represented the hectic and often abusive and damaging world of competitive dance, since i was a competitive dancer growing up. looking back now, i can’t believe i ever watched that and thought it was okay, along with thinking that my own experience in dance was okay. it’s an extremely gross generalization lacking any nuance to say that EVERYONE who watched the show is to blame for child abuse. i was ELEVEN.
We missed you! Anytime you post a video makes my day 100x better. I always know I’m going to enjoy hearing your commentary, Hannah 💓💓💓
Same❤
The fact that Abby to this day cannot except anymistajes that she made really frustrates me. She still blames everyone else for what happened. She is still upset that Maddie won't say her name or thank her for being her teacher. I've wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but the thing that got me most recently was that she sold her Pittsburgh studio and had an auction where she was selling everything in the studio. Like the legendary bench from Jill, photos of old students (not even famous ones), trophies, literally everything. You could literally pay to buy this stuff and pay to have it shipped to you. She was keeping all the money from that. That is when I knew just how low she could go and just how bad of a person she is. There are no redeeming qualities.
Is it just me or does selling photos of random children with no public reputation seem questionable?
My ADHD brain simply can't focus or absorb 40 min vids without getting bored UNLESS they're done by Hannah. She is so good at structuring videos and breaking things down in an interesting way. I could listen to her talk about anything and everything for 40+mins
Totally agree I can't sit through anything just found her and damn she makes it incredibly interesting
i’m a competitive dancer myself and dance moms really has negatively affecting that part of my life. whenever i tell people i’m a competitive dancer they always ask if it’s like dance moms and if they go to a competition, they’re always disappointed bc it wasn’t anything like the show.
I watched this show as like a preteen and at the time I genuinely wished they showed more of the dancing. I really enjoyed watching competitive dances and they were really talented. Also, I’m so glad you mentioned the sexual exploitation of these literal children. I am also pretty sure this show normalized children being sexualized in competitive dances. You could see the shift as the show gained more popularity and younger and younger girls were put in skimpy costumes and doing very inappropriate dance moves for their ages to songs with sexual meanings. Yes those kinds of dances existed before. There have always been bad dance teachers, but I think it became more normalized. Also, as a competitive dancer we were always warned like you can’t go anywhere alone at competitions because most are completely open to the public and there could be people with awful intentions there. Thank you for making this video. I think dance moms is starting to gain more popularity again and people are rewatching it which I think is a big problem honestly.
Also now as an adult I have a very different perspective on a lot of dances that I’ve seen in competitions. Those girls are all underage. Even the “senior” category is 18 and under teenagers. I literally saw a dance once called the garden of Eden and it was an acro dance where the girls were basically just showing off their flexibility to this weird kind of slow slithery song and they were wearing nude leotards with like vines on them. At the time I was like this is a little weird but whatever at least they’re teenagers not kids. But now I’m like no those are still kids! That’s so gross! Why are minors of any age dancing like that or suggesting sexual themes at all!!
So happy to see the notification you posted Hannah. Hope you're doing well ❤❤❤
I took dance for my entire childhood and our team went to competition several times. I feel so bad for these girls because I had an amazing and kind dance teacher and even now (years later) think of my years dancing as some of my favorite parts of growing up. That these girls were put through this over something that was supposed to be fun is so sad.
I only danced for about six years, but I still remember my dance teacher very fondly.
omg a Smokey Glow deep dive on dance moms is definitely something I needed and did not know it. Loved this! ❤️
👏👏👏
Chloe and Nia were the worst targets for Abby, my heart broke for those kids. I also have mad respect for Holly and Christi, especially since Christi is good at holding herself accountable and owning up to things.
Kelly talks about having several instances where she tried to leave and the producers claimed that they'd sue her for everything she had in breech of her contract. Both her and Christy got out before their contracts were up by doing insane shit to get them kicked off. I dont blame them in that sense because they didn't sign up for all that
What bothers me is that Christi came back in season 7, her and her kid was finally free from the trauma and they choose to come back again
@@chelseahorizons it was supposed to be the last episode then it got renewed so they just shot themselves in the foot
Love to be here. Love to see you. I turn 25 today. This is such a treat, Hannah ❤️
Happy birthday!🎉❤
@@kagey7591 thank you so much, pretty lady ❤
I worked at a summer day camp in PA at the time the show was airing, and one of my camp kids who was in competitive dance went to a weekend competition that the Dance Moms team was also at. I’ve been sitting here racking my brains, trying to remember what the camper said. From what I recall, she said that Abby really was like that, even when the cameras weren’t rolling, and was nasty to everyone she spoke to. She also said the girls weren’t allowed to interact with anyone outside of their group (even a “hi” or “you want some gum?” was verboten) and that none of the girls seemed to be having fun or enjoying themselves. Her mom’s report on it amounted to basically “I can’t even, those people are out of their minds.” She also alluded to having to get into it a little bit with the producers to make sure her daughter was off-camera and that they knew she had not given consent for her kid to appear on the show. I just remember going “hoooooo boy, so glad I didn’t get into dance! Jeebus!”
i’m a dancer, and when i was younger i danced at a comp that the aldc was at. i wasn’t in their age division, but from what i can remember the whole thing was rigged. like they weren’t even really competing. they filmed the dances and fake awards and left.
@@quenchedcherry4369 depends on what year you're talking about there's proof to prove you wrong if it was from early seasons and there's also no proof you're telling the truth
it’s weird to think about this show bc it was huge right around the time that i became intensely involved in competitive dance. i remember all of the moms from my team’s age group all got along really well and were always willing to drop anything and help the kids or each other. and the dancers all got along really well too, there wasn’t a toxic competitive environment that we were constantly subjected to.
then the moms from the “next generation” of dancers that started competing when i was just about graduated started acting so differently - fighting with each other physically/verbally, sucking up to the studio owner & basically doing whatever it took to get their kid better opportunities. and the kids! i think my old teacher had to start having regular conversations to try and diffuse tension between girls who were jealous of each other’s front row position in a dance or who were getting special attention from teachers.
it feels like this show had a ripple effect in the world of competitive dance and toxic behavior like what was seen in dance moms became much more commonplace in the average studio. as an adult, it makes me sad for the kids left at my old studio bc a major part of what made dance so special for me was the relationships i had with everyone :-(
THE IMPACT THIS SHOW HAD ON THE DANCE WORLD. I remember seeing the changes in choreo and dances at comps and the clear inspiration from Dance Moms. And the way we pitted and took sides because of the editing. Actively hating Maddie because she was favoured and rooting for Chloe to beat her. It’s honestly wild. I remember when they performed in Australia and the way they made it seem like they were going to this incredibly prestigious award ceremony when it was definitely not 😂😂
Just to play devil's advocate on one part- the Suicide Hotline dance was in honor of another young dancer that did indeed take her own life. And she was a friend to some of the then teenage dancers. I do think they were old enough to handle that, especially when they were literally going through that situation in their realities.
I am a dance teacher and I was a competitive dancer...last year one of my 10 year old dancers lost her life in a car accident. Our whole studio had to go through this tremendous loss. We dedicated the season to her, had a grief counseling session, had her name embroidered on our team jackets, and created several dances in her honor. We even now have a bench outside that the kids designed that we painted together on the one year anniversary of her death.
Yes, some topics are very heavy...but sometimes it is their reality, whether they are mentally and emotionally prepared for it.
There's an interview somewhere that Cathy says she and Abby were acquaintances/colleagues in the dance world since Ohio and Pennsylvania aren't that far apart. She didn't want Vivi-Anne to be featured heavily on the show, so that's why she wasn't in it frequently. (I personally also think she was too young to really compete, as was Mackenzie at the beginning.) Same thing with her husband - he didn't want to be involved in it at all and wanted to remain anonymous. ETA that I believe Vivi also went to regular in-person school throughout the duration of the show and that dance was more of an extracurricular for her, which is why she's not seen much beyond her mother requesting she not be featured. And looking back now, that may have been the best decision given all the trauma the other girls went through. Vivi-Anne seems like a well-rounded teen today.
Please do a video update on Ryan and Haley! Ryan not shipping out merch and stealing his designs from a small artist, their "homestead goods" company was completely abandoned, the covid wedding, etc!!
The original parents didn’t have a choice because they thought they were filming a documentary. They were locked in a six season contract. I blame the newer moms more bc they watched the show and still decided to put their kid in that environment. Also, I feel like Abby didn’t care for any of the girls, even Maddie. As soon as she realized that Maddie was getting so famous that she couldn’t profit off of her and take credit, she started putting another student(Brynn) on the pedestal. She just wanted credit and money. That’s why she wanted to be involved in the girls’ careers outside of dance and was mad at Nia for not letting her manage her music
11 y rs ago I remember taking 3 days off in college to binge watch season 1 of dances moms 😂 The girls were SO talented and the best part imo were the dances even if a lot of the competitions were fake. Holly has always been the most reasonable normal mom and it always PAINED me to see how Abby treated Nia. My heart always went out to all the girls because it's all too much for kids. I used to compete in piano competitions from 7 to 18 and the competitiveness is part of the reason I didn't study professionally. It broke my brain a bit. My situation is a bit different because my parents are incredible and literally never pushed me to practice or compete. I begged to study classical piano from ages 5-7 before they decided to let me study. I didn't unpack how much that part of my childhood influenced how self-critical I was until I was my mid twenties. I still play nearly every day now, but for my own enjoyment 😊
I did a meet and greet with Paige and her mom back in the day, right before the season they announced they were leaving. They were actually so nice! Being a dancer at that time of the show, I related entirely too much to Paige. It’s really hard to talk about how damaging Dance Moms was.
I was close to the same age as these girls while this show was airing and I was also a compete with dancer. I was horrified by the show back then and was even more bothered by how much people loved it. It was disheartening to see that people cared more about entertainment then the well-being of children.
Omfg please cover Toddlers & Tiaras next, that show was so insane and no one ever talks about it 😭 so many levels to the horribleness of it all
Omg and when I was a child I loved that show I don't even wanna revisit all the things I dismissed with the logic beauty is pain as a 8 yr old 😢
I remember watching this show as a child and not really understanding the full weight of everything that I was watching. To put it into perspective I’m a month older than Maddie, so I’m the same age as most of the original cast. Looking back on it I’m amazed at the length of time this show was allowed to go on for. I’m not shocked that the girls are speaking out against the abuse that they faced. I just wish that someone had done something in those moments.
HANNAH MY SWEET!!! IVE MISSED YOU!! 💗🤍💗 hope you’re doing incredible today!!!
This is a wonderful commentary of dance moms. Absolutely well done! Maybe I missed this, but I wish Ava Michelle was mentioned in this as well. She was a victim of Abby on multiple seasons when dancing with her. She was extremely ridiculed over her height to where Abby called her a praying mantis. I find it funny how she eventually moved on and starred in the movie Tall Girl, literally rubbing it in Abby’s face that her height is by no means a negative trait!
I’m late to the party! But here is more explanation on 23:42 :
1. When the moms signed the contract, they were inexperienced to the legal complications of it and were tricked into signing onto a 6 season long contract. If they were more knowledgeable about the danger of these contracts I doubt they would sign them, and there has been numerous rumors that the moms tried to leave after season 1 (believing it was supposed to be a short docuseries), but couldnt because the producers showed them what the contract ACTUALLY said.
2. If they broke the contract, its not about being kicked off the show, as they were trying to get off in the first place. It’s more about the insane debt they’d get from being fined hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Although it is fair to make the argument that a kid’s childhood is worth more than money, it is a tough spot to be in as you could be in debt for the rest of your life and unable to provide a life for your kid if you were fined that amount.
I hope that explains why the contracts were such a big issue in why they couldn’t leave
I’ve been cursed with Dance Moms being one of my comfort shows (don’t ask me why 😂)
It’s definitely grounded me during times of high anxiety which I thank it for but the flaws are so hard to ignore. Those producers were EEEVVVIL.
it’s one of mine too lol
I realize I have a real knack for making traumatizing movies and shows my comfort things to watch lol
So happy to see you post again! You make my day everytime the notification pops up.
oh my GOD i remember being at school as a little kid, watching the second season of dance moms with my mom, and hearing at the end of s2 e8 (when they do the "coming up on dance moms" bit), abby saying "the audience needs to think you're *nude* ". literally the only thing all the girlies were talking abt the next day
So, as someone who was in competitive dance at the time the show came out, this show absolutely turned the already insanely toxic environment at the studio I went to up to twelve.
Like holy hell, we even did the pyramid thing like twice. The studio runner revered Abbys methods as inspiration, which only made everyones lives worse. I'm glad to see people realizing how absolutely toxic and abusive the situations the kids in this show were put through and I hope anyone who has dealt with the same things is doing better
I’m living for this. I was in the non-competitive dance world growing up and avoided this show like the plague when it was on. Then recently, I decided to binge the series and I am HORRIFIED with no outlet to rant because the show is old news!! 🤣
I am actually so impressed that you covered dance moms so well, and you are not a fan. As a kid who was a big fan and now as an adult who sees how messed up everything was, I'm really impressed.
but I think you got one thing wrong - contracts. Christi and Kelly on their podcast talked a lot how the contracts didn't let them leave the show. Kelly only got out because Abby called the police on her and producer still tried to get her back on the show after the big fight.
No one really knows how Christie left, but also Melissa said that after she and her kids left, it took her six months to get out of the contract.
Those contracts were no joke, Kelly, Christi and Jill tried to leave like a 100 times but but always been forced to film.
Also about the inappropriate dances, moms always were fighting with the producers, but couldn't do anything about it.
So well said. I hope all the dancers are doing well in their own lives
AAHHH WE MISSED YOU! So good to see Smokey again 🥺💜
i feel like you could do a whole part 2 on Maddie Ziegler‘s abusive relationship with Sia. She was a grown woman having “sleepovers” with a young teen girl. absolutely disgusting.
I was a former company dance kid who loved to dance but was relentlessly bullied by coaches and teammates (and their moms). So I never got into this show because it hits a little too close to my most traumatic experiences. But as always I love to see what’s going on with these reality shows through a Smokeyglow filter lol
I rewatched some of Dance Moms with my roommates and seeing how the girls were treated was pretty appalling. I actually saw an Abbey Lee Dance company store here in LA recently which was wild. It is nice to see that a lot of the girls seem to be doing well as adults.
Glad to see you're doing well Hannah.
My sister used to dance and we did one Bollywood (Gaana more precisely) routine together and even though she was never professional, I swear it brought out a demon in her every time because she needed it to be PERFECT. It always put me off cos dancers are just competitive to the point that they will literally belittle you. I love my sister but I refused to dance with her again after that one routine 😂
😂
Competitive dancer from ages 4-18 here! 🙋🏼♀️ Towards the higher age, dancers had 5-8 dances every year. We would work on these 2.5 min dances for MONTHS. And perform them all at every single competition, and then start all over the next year with a new set of dances. Learning a new dance for each competition is so weird and stressful. I remember watching their dances as a child and thinking how wildly different it was from my competition dance life.
One of the similarities though is the hierarchy of dancers. Abby Lee made her dancers’ rankings very apparent. From my experience, the rankings were more implied vs explicit. You knew exactly which dancers would be featured more, who would be in the front, which dancers would get a special jumping or leaping section, which ones would be in a turning section, and sadly, which ones would be more fillers. This rankings aspect is one of the only things that holds true (when comparing dance moms to “normal” comp. Dance) from my experience.
SO excited for this!! I love this type of content from you!
22:15 btw, that dude (Brooke's date from the senior team, Kevin) was arrested some time ago for inappropriate behavior around minors😭
I don’t know much about dance but I just find it strange that they thought it was a good idea to have children dance in a routine about Rosa parks when they probably have very little idea about what that event meant in history and how it affected people afterwards.
They had Brooke do a dance that was the diary of Anne Frank and Brooke and Kelly didn't know who she was. There were other dances too that they didn't know the background or were the wrong age demographic for when they did them
My mom and I used to LOVE watching this show, we would sit down and watch it weekly. I don't remember which later season, but at some point we both agreed to just skip through the drama & abusive parts to get to the dancing. It's wild to hear that so many people also focused on the dancing!
Aaahhh!!! I love this type of content! It’s like a mix of your love is blind vid and your vids about family blogs. This is literally just in time for me to listen to while I fall asleep.
Your finally back!! Hopefully the podcast comes back soon too
yaay smokey is back! missed u Hannah, hope ur doing well ^ ^
Dance is actually so so traumatizing. You feel like your value is tied to where you are in the formation. You feel like it’s because you’re not trying hard enough, if you just put in more hours at the studio, you would be more of an asset to the team. It breeds so much competitiveness among the girls, which breeds tension. It’s never enough what you’re doing, it’s so psychologically damaging just inherently. I danced with someone who used to be on the show, and wondered why she stuck with it
You did a great job with this. Could you please make a similar video about Toddlers and Tiaras?
In defense of the mothers who I do give 10% of the blame is the fact that when it comes to costuming it wasn't their choice. The mothers have admitted that they hated a lot of these costumes, and that they didn't have a choice, which is very true due to the fact production picked costumes and they would get fined if they refused. These mothers due need to take part of the blame but at the same time that contracts does keep you locked down and a lot of people are stupid enough to sign contracts with no knowledge. I don't want to deflect blame from them but it's the truth, the moms even stated that a lot of them didn't want to do the show, in Holly's case it was something Nia had to beg her to do because Holly didn't want to. Christi and Kelly were hunted down by production basically because Abby sent them away to a competition during casting and production wanted them. I just think yes we need to give them blame for not being knowledgeable, but we need to remember the fact we don't know everything, and that we don't know what's in that contract and if the things that trapped them were hidden or not. I will also say certain moms mainly Kelly tried to leave the show each season every couple of weeks after seeing the mental toll it was taking on her kids especially Paige but production wouldn't allow it and she had to literally hit Abby and sue her in order to get out.
Former competitive dancer here! Very excited to hear you talk about this because I never really know what the dance world looks like from the outside 🫣
Love your videos! Super proud of you. Whatever and whenever you post I’ll watch
HANNAH!!! thank god you're back, i've been binging your videos from 3-4 years ago omg
i remember watching the first couple seasons when i was around 12 or 13, i wanted to be a competitive so bad... a few years later i realized how the themes for the dances were so weird and felt like it didn't belong in those competitions with children
Being a competitive dancer in the era of dance moms was wild…. People putting their children in dance with the HOPES it was similar only to find it was nothing like that at all. I was a competitive dancer for 13 years and while every once in a while you found a “dance mom” and not a mom of a dancer- it was such a positive light in my life.
Girl I’ve missed you. I need this video tonight ❤
“You just said that my daughter looks miserable so maybe we should put Kalani in her place!”
“No I never said that!”
“Yes you most certainly did!”
“NO I DIDNT DINGBAT LISTEN! I SAID BROOKE DID YOUR MOTHER-“
“GET YOUR FINGER OUT OF MY FACE!!!”
“GIRLS OUT THE ROOM!!!!!”
I seem to remember reading at the time that the kids couldn’t be paid by the show (because then they wouldn’t be able to compete at the competitions because they would have been classed as professional dancers) so they were compensated with phones/iPads etc… sketchy. Loved the video, this show had a huge affect on my own dance education looking back!
i think its important to note that kelly went so far as to sue the production team in season 3.5/4 in order to get out of the original 6 season contract they were all made to sign. and christie was also able to get out a season before the contract expired, so to their credit, they did make a big effort to get their kids out of there.
the thing that always made me mad was where were the dad's/the other parent when all of this was happening? Obviously the balme can fall mainly on the mom/whatever parent was on the show, because they were the ones witnessing it live and choosing to let it happen, and the dad/non dance parent's wouldn't have seen the worst of it, but it's also their job as a parent to protect their children as much as it is the dance parent's??
Wait what, how did I miss this 2 weeks ago! Lol
Always excited to see a Smokey Glow video!
I’m sick in bed w COVID and you posting was just what I needed 😊 haven’t watched yet but dance moms was traumatic
Hannah I was just thinking about you yesterday and missing your videos! So happy to wake up to this one! ❤
I’ve been waiting so long for a new video I’m glad ur here and I hope your doing well❤️
I just found your channel and I just love your style of commentary. You’re so chill and honest. It’s super refreshing!
I just can never get over the awful things Nia went through. Just the actual gaslighting the other moms did to Holly, perpetuating all these stereotypes as if any of them knew more about what it meant to be a Black woman than Holly and Nia, its insane.
I REALLY hope you come back 😊 The Dance Moms Reunion came out and hoping you could do a reaction or response to the reunion. We miss you!!❤❤
I saw this in my recommended and got so excited! Discovered your channel through the evolution series and now you're my go-to for compelling listening when I work overnights as a cake decorator! Thank you for your service!!
So happy to see a Smokey Glow video!! I hope you are doing well Hannah!
I cried when Abby was yelling at Nia for having braids 😭 it was so heartbreaking.
I was a competitive dancer when this was ALL THE RAGE! It was crazy the effect it had on how we danced and what we wore, and I was their age or a little bit older at the time. I'm glad we can all see it for what it is now