Dance Moms: Miami – In Like A Lion

Like I posted in my Dance Moms finale thread, I was busy, so I know this recap on Dance Moms: Miami is super late, but it was worth it.  I have to say, where Dance Moms left off, Miami picked it up.  You have the talented dancers, obsessed Dance Moms, and extremely entertaining instructors.  In some ways, Miami topped Pittsburgh, especially in the instructor department.

I must say, it was refreshing to see teachers who don’t treat their students like kids lucky enough to be in their presence.  Don’t get me wrong, Abby Lee is a great teacher, but Victor and Angel prove you can be a great teacher while not having an ego as big as Miami’s nightlife.  Angel is the more stern teacher who watches from afar, similar to Abby, but doesn’t yell at anything that walks.  Victor is more of the relaxed, easy going choreographer who apparently is so dedicated, he still went to the competition despite puking before getting on a bus.  I am such a baby when it comes to that.  If I puke once, I’m cancelling anything I had planned for the next 2 weeks.

The mothers, let me use a word to easily describe them… FIERCE.  For what is missing with Abby Lees fire, the Miami moms easily make up for it.  Susan (pictured above) is super competitive Dance Mom who has her daughter Jessi working non stop to be a perfectionist. Apparently it is working because Jessi was top of the list heading into the week, and looked to stay on top with her solo at the Hollywood Vibe competition the team was headed to that weekend.  (Side note: Jessi’s grandmother Bertha still has some moves too!)

Abby Small was the newcomer to the group, as I mentioned in Sammy’s bio page. Apparently, she did have a history with Hannah’s mother, Debi, who didn’t appear to be very thrilled to see Abby walking through the door.  In fact, she threatened to walk out the back door if that happened, but I’m guessing they don’t have a back door because Debi wisely stayed.  I’m glad she did because her daughter, Hannah, seems like a super sweet girl who is the type that has the talent, but doesn’t take it as serious, so you won’t see her freaking out over minor things.

The final two mothers are from the duo pair of Kimmy and Lucas, who were put together to do the tango.  As far as the moms go, Ani (Kimmy’s mom) and Brigette (Lucas’s mom) didn’t have a very eventful episode.  That’s probably a good thing after the crazy arguments on display by Debi, Victor, and Susan (not all together). The tango moms had to watch in horror as Lucas was trying to hold Kimmy up, but pretty much dropped her in practice.  I think Lucas needs to start lifting the 10lb weights for next week!  Seriously though, both dancers were super cute and did fantastic in the competition.

The entire episode was pretty much geared around getting to know the dancers more, featuring little segments on each one and their personal lives.  That was pretty cool to see the ‘other’ side of each person.  It wasn’t an episode full of yelling, swearing and lawsuits.  I am looking forward to the rest of the season, and hope it lives up to the solid first episode.

Before I stop, here are the overall results from the Hollywood Vibe competition:

1st place duo – Lucas and Kimmy
2nd place teen solo – Jessi
1st place small group – All the dancers doing a Jazz / Funk routine

Well done, and I’ll hopefully be live tweeting the episode next week!