February, 2012 | Dance Mom Junkies

Archive for February 28, 2012

Dance Moms Focuses More On The Lighter Side Of ALDC And Scores

February 28, 2012 sabrina Dance Moms

Brooke was not in the room, don't panic

Throughout both seasons of Dance Moms, it seems like every episode, while entertaining, has followed a similar path. Abby Lee yells at the kids, yells at the moms, the moms yell back at Abby and then snap at one another. I can’t complain, aside from snapping at the kids, that’s good TV. I know it, you know it, and Lifetime knows it, as much as people complain about the show.

That being said, it appears the show took a different path in the episode tonight, and I felt it was one of the best from both seasons so far. After weeks of buildup of fights and competition, the mood appeared much lighter throughout the entire episode and it was very refreshing. There was a slightly different side of Abby Lee, as she choreographed a dance as a poke at Melissa who became engaged, but was trying to keep it a secret.

At one point, Abby Lee was trying to talk to Maddie and Mackenzie to get some dirt, and it was hilarious to see the reaction Mackenzie gave trying to keep a secret but wanting to tell Abby. Maddie was a bit cooler about the situation, until Chloe mentioned how she loved the back story behind it all. Overall it was just great to see the personalities of the girls shine through, instead of just watching them dance and be yelled at for an hour.

The mothers were also immensely enjoyable to watch this week as they appeared very relaxed and fun as they were in the bridal shop trying on outfits. Kelly was going to try on a dress when she whispered in Holly’s ear how she wasn’t wearing any underwear, and then said to the camera “Welcome to my world, no panties!”. It was also funny to hear the moms talk about how (too?) revealing Melissa is, yet she’s remaining private about the wedding. Again, just refreshing to see how loose everyone appeared, and was really entertaining.

However, it wouldn’t be Dance Moms without some drama, and naturally that involved Jill. Abby Lee decided to put Kendall on probation again due to the helicopter parenting lately by Jill, and that was enough to cause a scene. Jill freaked out, pulled Kendall from the class and instantly took her to (ugh) Candy Apples… (seriously, will that place just go away?). Cathy salivated at the opportunity to get back at Abby, so like she tried to do with Payton, she invited a spot to Kendall and immediately put her in a solo dance this week.. to face Nia, who was celebrating her first ever time on top of the pyramid.

In the dance portion, the group number went off without a hitch. The girls were doing a wedding theme, basically making the theme where they give themselves away to marry dance. Candy Apples, fittingly danced to a funeral, which is basically how the results ended up. ALDC crushed Candy Apples in the group number, but sadly for Nia, Kendall was able to pull off the victory in the solo competition. While it was nice to see Kendall earn a victory, it was definitely bittersweet against Nia, and with the Candy Apples.

One comment dance moms, Episode Recaps

JUMP Convention Comes To Pittsburgh

February 27, 2012 sabrina Dance Moms

The JUMP convention tours around the country, and over the weekend they made their way to Pittsburgh, home of the Abby Lee Dance Company. Never to shy away from a competition, ALDC entered, and from the sounds of it, pretty much dominated.

Gianna Martello (Abby’s assistant) tweeted:

JUNIOR, TEEN & SENIOR Best of Jump!!! Congrats #ALDC ! My babies are the best <3

Abby Lee also chimed in with:

Whoa did the ALDC Rock Jump or what? Thank you Gil!

Chloe and Maddie appeared to do a duo, but I’m not sure on the rest. I’m new to digging up info on the dances, so I apologize for lack of results, but mostly wanted to post some great pictures of the two that Christi posted.

No comments Abby Lee, Chloe Lukasiak, Christi Lukasiak, dance moms, Maddie Ziegler

Dance Moms vs Toddlers & Tiaras

February 27, 2012 sabrina Dance Moms

I know this will probably seem a bit biased because I’m posting this on a Dance Moms blog, but I am going to try and be as neutral as possible when discussing the two shows. I watch both shows pretty much religiously, and don’t feel one is really “better” than the other. They’re actually pretty different, but I hear a lot of comments comparing the two shows, so I thought it would be fun to actually break them down.

Editing

This is pretty simple, Toddlers and Tiaras wins this one hands down. Dance Moms is edited like a typical show, which isn’t a bad thing. Toddlers and Tiaras does a great job at taking subtle jabs at double standards of the mothers. For example they’ll have a clip of a mother saying how sweet their kid is, then the next shot show the kid like screaming at the top of their lungs. My opinion, Toddlers and Tiaras is funnier because of that, while others may see it as manipulating the editing to make people look bad.

Edge: Toddlers & Tiaras

Mothers

Both shows have very extreme mothers, except the two different types of moms appear to push their passion in different directions. For example, the pageant moms get really worked up at the kids, judges, competition and pretty much anyone. It’s very clear many of them live vicariously through their daughters and love the pageant world more than many of the kids do. To be fair, there are many pageant daughters who really appear to enjoy it, but it’s very clear the young ones have almost no interest in it.

On Dance Moms, however, the mothers are also very passionate, but in a “momma bear” type of way. The daughters want the best, the mothers want the best for them, so they go to the best school. The best teacher happens to be very tough, so the moms tend to let their “claws” out when Abby gets a little too mean. They are also ruthless towards one another, mostly due to the competitive nature of the school. However, one thing we don’t see are the mothers acting negatively towards the children.

Edge: Dance Moms

Daughters

This is a tough one to judge simply because there are new kids every week on Toddlers and Tiaras. They can vary from the super nice, sweet and funny to super bratty and spoiled. The ages also have a huge variety from 2 years old to 10 years old, and like expected, most of the “bratty” behavior tends to come from the younger ones. That’s not surprising since some are still in diapers but are forced to sit around in a hotel all day. Even the nicest kids can be bad in that environment.

On Dance Moms, the girls are generally the same age, spend a lot of time together and have bonded as friends. They support each other, appear to love what they’re doing and are very well behaved. On a whole, the girls on Dance Moms behave better, but due to the variety of age differences and new people weekly, I have to give this an inconclusive.

Edge: Inconclusive

Talent

This is very easy. The dancers on Dance Moms have far more talent than anyone to ever appear on Toddlers and Tiaras. Not only is dancing tough in general, but to be able to learn 2-3 dances in a matter of days and win competitions proves how immensely talented those girls are. Even the young ones like Mackenzie learn dances in days and end up winning.

Edge: Dance Moms

Future

I’m not sure of the long-term prospects of the pageant world. It seems like those girls who can actually make it, the prospects aren’t terrible. I mean you have local pageant queens, state, country, etc. Once you reach the higher levels of the pageant world, I’m sure opportunities open up from modeling gigs to appearing on reality shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race or Big Brother. You don’t really need to even win Miss America to score some decent gigs at the higher ends of this path.

The dancers also have good futures as there are likely a lot more jobs available for professional dancers from background in music videos to places in Vegas. Of course, many famous singers started off as dancers, and half of them can’t even sing well. So with a bit of luck and some auto-tuning, any one of these girls can turn into the next Britney Spears.

While I think the dancers have a more stable future, the payoff could be higher for the pageant world, which is why I’m going to give this one a push.

Edge: Push

So there you have it, Dance Moms narrowly wins. While both shows appear to be exploiting these kids, I don’t agree. This is just the girl version of the kids who are shipped off to football or baseball camps, practice, games, etc. If you put a reality show featuring those moms, people would think the future of the NFL was being exploited as well.

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