Has Dance Moms Taken the Stage Too Far?
Who ever thought that the stereotype of dance moms dressing their daughters from head to toe in rhinestones and gluing fake eyelashes on their daughters’ eyelids would ever actually be true? The world of making your daughter the best in the class and anxiously waiting to see her picture at the top of the pyramid exposed the stereotypical dance moms as true in the popular reality TV show Dance Moms.
In summer of 2011 when the first season aired, dance teacher Abby Lee Miller coached six young girls from Pittsburgh as their moms watched every second of the dance practices from the upstairs viewing area. As the moms sat upstairs and sewed the costumes for their girls, no more than a few moments could pass without one mom talking trash about another. The constant arguments of which girl was the best dancer or who Abby liked the best circulated throughout the building every day.
Viewers would eagerly tune in every Tuesday night to see which girl’s picture would appear on top of the pyramid, who would get the solo for that week’s competition, and which moms would get into the biggest fight. While this might be seen as light entertainment to some, could it come across as a version of media violence or child abuse to others?
As viewers watched the show, they do realize they are watching reality television. This means that while the content is real, the editors only choose to show a fraction of the footage. They dramatize the interactions to make them even more enticing than they are in reality. While this does have an influence on how people interpret the show, the content the producers do choose to show is also real. That being said, Dance Moms still leaves a shocking and lasting impression on the audience.
Throughout the show, the moms go out to bars while the girls are in rehearsal, get drunk, argue about the dance competitions, and sometimes even get into physical fights. By witnessing these actions captured on camera, viewers could react in negative ways. For example, young girls who are dancers could see these behaviors and worry that their own parents act in these ways when the dancers are in class. The moms watching the show could also be influenced negatively by the way the show perceives dance moms.
Let’s talk for a bit about how Abby expects the girls to dress and what dance moves she choreographs into the dance routines. In the second episode of the first season, the moms express their horrific concern about the costumes Abby has picked out for their daughters to dance in. An argument between Abby and the moms occurs in front of the girls as they are trying on the costumes. The girls do not want to disobey Abby, so they say they love the costumes, but the moms’ faces show their utter concern.
Dressing six to 12-year-olds in crop tops, booty shorts, and fishnets and having them dance on television for everyone to see them seems like it could be violating these girls’ privacy. This reminds me of a milder version of the Netflix movie Cuties. Even though the parents have given the show permission to choose how their daughters are portrayed, could this possibly traumatic experience have consequences on the girls in the future?
As Dance Moms continued to create content for eight seasons, more girls and moms joined the show and others left with memorable exits. As the audience continued to grow and the show received more revenue, Abby took her studio and dancers to the West Coast and continued to win competitions and make a name for The Abby Lee Dance Company in Los Angeles. The bigger city also meant bigger drama and bigger fights. Not a single episode aired without content being bleeped out and hair being pulled.
Would a mom want to sign her daughter up for dance classes after watching the show? I believe that through the perception and image the show is portraying, many moms might actually choose not sign their daughters up for dance. While it is a reality TV show, Dance Moms still shares the real issues that occur in an intense studio. The idea of entering a toxic environment where tears will be falling from your little girl’s eyes every day seems like a nightmare waiting to happen.
While Dance Moms looks as though it will not return to Lifetime, the eight seasons that Abby Lee Miller starred on have left a lasting impact on not only the dance world, but also on the greater media consuming community.
While Dance Moms looks as though it will not return to Lifetime, the eight seasons that Abby Lee Miller starred on have left a lasting impact on not only the dance world, but also on the greater media consuming community.
