Dance Moms on Lifetime

[jadewarlock]

Yeah, Cathy got her butt kicked in two groups, and yes, the dancers were superior, and Nia showed that she's a better dancer than Vivi here. I loved Nia and her colleague's "Snake" type dance - seriously it was entertaining and good.

Bad - I cannot believe Abby is more concerned about her studio she didn't bother to see how her mother was doing. Very callous IMHO - my parents would disown me. Then she gets mad about an indie choreographer and yells at the mom who got it simply because she says she wants individual time like Maddie gets with the other instructor. The mom fairly said she thinks it's bull (she didn't say it) that she'd have to give a present to the dance teacher to get that quality time. I do agree with her - unless Maddie's mom IS paying for that special instruction (which Abby could easily and politely prove), it IS unfair.

If things like this don't sink Abby's studio, I don't know what will.

[coltnlasma]

I liked how protective Abby acted over Maddie - holding her hand, the talk they had at lunch - thought it was a sweet and endearing side to show.
My favorite line last night was from Maddie: something like, "My little sister is gonna take those Candy Apples down!"
But yes, I do wonder how much of the behavior shown by Abby and by Cathy can do either of their studios any good.

[jadewarlock]

I liked how protective Abby acted over Maddie - holding her hand, the talk they had at lunch - thought it was a sweet and endearing side to show.
My favorite line last night was from Maddie: something like, "My little sister is gonna take those Candy Apples down!"
But yes, I do wonder how much of the behavior shown by Abby and by Cathy can do either of their studios any good.

Between Abby and the Sophomoric Bully and Cathy the Narcissistic bully... I'd rather just take my chances and be self taught like I was. I'd do just as well quite honestly.

I did notice one thing that was also interesting - Chloe beat Maddie, but there was no "Finally my daughter beat Maddie" from anyone. I think the show is trumping up a rivalry that really isn't there between the girls. Kinda sad.

BTW, I did love the fact that Maddie was disappointed yet happy doing as well as she did. This girl actually does have a good head on her shoulders in spite of the slightly egoistic editing the show does. I actually do hope eventually she considers other studios where they'll still give her the tough training but maybe a bit more positive reinforcement.

[MHcarrollton]

I was so dissappointed by a lot of things on this episode. Number one when Maddie lost the fear on her face was so evident. She is being abused plain and simple. She is held to such a high standard that instead of wanting to have fun and learn she is winning because she feels it is the only way to get attention. She looked terrified and immediately looked out to the audience to see Abby's reaction.

Next, I am so over hearing Brooke's mother using the f word in front of children. I am sickened by hearing that word period, but in front of children is despicable.

Next, Chloe won and all we heard about is Maddie Maddie Maddie. I am sorry but I agree with the other mothers, she gets too much attention. They need to remove her from dancing with the other girls and make her an individual competitior and give her private lessons or equal the time out or have her mother pay more. She is getting way more attention than the other girls, and no matter what if your child was struggling and some other child was not and they got all the attention any parent would be mad.

Next, I am sure that the girls watch this show. I am disgusted that Maddie is going to see her mother talking about her boyfriend paying for things so she has to spend time with him. That is such a wrong image to set for a young girl.

Lastly, I want to see more of the children's bonds. We constantly see them hugging. Why can we not have one reality show that shows the good, and not concentrates and amps up the bad. Have we lost all sense of warm heartfelt moments?

[jadewarlock]

I agree on the Maddie thing - at least now. I noticed too that Abby did NOT talk condescendingly toward her for winning second, yet if any of the other dancers did that, she'd have a field day with them and blame the mothers.

While I too agree the F- or S- word shouldn't be used in front of children, I can see where Brooke's mom is coming from in regard to the difference in teaching. Abby really should have Maddie dance in a different group in her studio or offer to let the other dancers have that 1-on-1 time.

There is obvious good bonding between the girls from what I see. I feel bad they're in the crossfire of the moms and Abby.

[PA Snow Bunny]

I am willing to wager that Abby has a caregiver looking after her Mom. Sometimes you just can't get away from your job. It sounded as if her Mom had an intestinal blockage.
I can't get over the fact that Melissa choose to go back home to ahemmm "take care of" her boyfriend instead of being with her daughters.
Happy for Chole, Nia & Mackenzie. Proud of how Maddie handled taking second.
I actually agree with Abby when Brooke & Paige's Mom(forgot her name)..she hired someone else so they would no longer be a part of ALM Studio although the part where Abbey mentioned about the Mom not buying a Christmas gift for her assistant was way out of line.

[Kiz]

I have to believe this show is scripted. Could Abbey be so vindictive to a mom (and quasi friend) that she would say this to her little girls?..."Your mom's not here. We all make choices. She chose to be away instead of be with you." That's scraping the bottom of the barrel low. I don't care if it's true or not, you don't say that to the kids.

And Cathy, holy candy apples, that women lives in la la land. She knew exactly the talent her dancers (and daughter) were up against, and yet she felt her team had a chance to win in a head to head competition with Abby's girls. Cuckoo.

The moms in general...just one word for them...ugh.

[Tilden]

I, too, think Abby is overtly favoring Maddie. I don't blame Maddie for it, but it's happening nonetheless, and no matter how nicely Maddie and Chloe seem to be handling it, it has to hurt both of them in the long run.

It drives me wild to see both Abby and Cathy putting the responsibility for their reputations on the backs of little girls. It's just not fair of them. I know all kinds of teachers in all kinds of fields, and the good ones do not, ever, take credit for their students' successes the way those two do or attempt to do. They may be justifiably pleased to see someone they've taught succeed, but they do not use it as evidence of their talent as teachers. Nor do they blame students who don't succeed for making them look bad. For that matter, they don't determine for the students how they should define their ultimate success. I absolutely hated Abby and Cathy shouting at each other about where their former students were now in front of the girls, especially when Abby demanded to know which Broadway show Cathy's student in NYC was in and then shouted, "Failure!" when Cathy said she wasn't in a show. Good grief, she could be doing any number of things in NYC or elsewhere that had to do with dance other than being in a Broadway musical and even if she wasn't doing anything but teaching a free dance class at a YWCA, that doesn't make her a failure. It just makes her someone who doesn't have a career on the Broadway stage--which, given that Abby supposedly opened her first studio at fourteen, Abby hasn't had either. Does that make her a failure? Those little girls don't need to hear grown women screaming about how dance students who don't become professional dancers are "failures," because the vast majority of little girls who take dance don't grow up to be professional dancers. Even Maddie, as talented as she is, may not end up dancing professionally for any number of reasons completely beyond her control.

As someone who lost her mother three years ago, I also don't really care if Abby has a caregiver for her mother or not. She could have shown more concern than she did. Surely she's not the only teacher at her studio who could have accompanied the girls to that competition so she could have gone to be with her mother, at least for a day or two.

Oh, and does anyone else find it a little unsettling how often Abby choreographs pieces that either seem unduly sexy for young girls or are about abuse and/or loss? Is that the norm for these dance competitions? I wondered last night if Chloe and Nia/Mackenzie did better for a change simply because they appeared to be genuinely having a good time performing those particular routines. I'm not saying the girls couldn't do dramatic pieces too, but why do they always have to concern such scary or depressing topics? Sin, abuse, and suicide are not especially topics I want to see girls of eight or ten dancing out for me on a regular basis.

Finally, someone needs to wake Cathy up about Vivi. She's probably a very sweet little girl, and she can do much more than I could have done at that age, but I was and am something of a klutz. Compared to the other dancers, she's basically just average. There's nothing wrong with that, except that Cathy keeps setting her up for big falls by building her up as the second coming of a combination of Shirley Temple and Nadia Comaneci, and she's just not that fabulous. Why can't Cathy just appreciate Vivi for who she is as opposed to needing her to be a great dancer so badly?

[Poppy Fields]

I just caught this show for the very first time. If the quality of performance is any indication of the proficiency and talent of the instructor - I have to say she sucks. These kids don't look any different that the kids in my local middle school who perform there. She was out of line to burden them with the pressure that they would be scrutinized by people prepared to hire them professionally. What total BS.

[Critical]

I agree that Abby favors Maddie, but it would be hard not to. She is far above any of the other girls, including Chloe. Chloe is a good dancer, but she doesn't have the star quality Maddie does. She just doesn't. The amount of talent, polish and charisma that Maddie has at 8 years old is astonishing.

They didn't overtly state it, but one of the reasons Abby couldn't leave LA to be with her mother had to be that she was in charge of Maddie and Mackenzie. I wouldn't trust any of those other mothers - well, maybe Holly - to watch the girls. Obviously Abby was very conflicted about staying in LA.

I have to believe that the reason these girls are in a performing group together is their mothers agreed to be on the show. Why else would a 13-year old be in a group - as an equal - with an 8 year old or a child even younger?

I find Cathy so grating that I have to mute her. She reminds me of a Catherine O'Hara character from a Christopher Guest movie...only more over-the-top.

Kelly is so incredibly immature. Yes, her girls may not be getting the perks and special attention that others are getting, but to scream and cry and swear about it in front of her daughters and the other girls is just out of bounds. It's like she's still in the same mindset in her relationship with Abby as she was when she was Abby's student.