maddie’s uphill battle performance was AMAZING! holy crap.

i teared watching maddie’s “piece of my heart” solo. :’) it was GORGEOUS! 

i wanted to bawl with Maddie when i watched Dance Moms. that was horrible of Abby to do that to her. she’s taking her anger out on Maddie when she’s really upset with Melissa. totally not fair.

// Dance Moms (04.03.12)//

whewwww this episode really upset me.  and i’m sure it upset many of the other people who are avid watchers of this show.  okay, first of all, STOP PUTTING SO MUCH PRESSURE ON THESE LITTLE GIRLS!  they’re still in elementary school (with the exception of brooke), and abby is treating them like grown adults.  honestly, these kids can’t handle all of the pressure that’s being put on them.  yes, they are GORGEOUS dancers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t break.  it doesn’t mean they aren’t fragile.  it doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes.  it certainly doesn’t mean they’re perfect.

from the beginning, you could totally tell that maddie was off of her game.  and it’s because abby puts so much pressure on her to stay at the top.  yeah, yeah, we heard.  it’s hard to get to the top of the pyramid, but it’s even harder to stay there.  awesome.  cool.  kudos to maddie for staying at the top of the pyramid for so long.  but seriously, give the poor child a break.  they were trippin’ out because she forgot her dance shoes that one day.  OH MY GOSH!  maddie’s human.  she made a mistake.  it’s not the end of the world, people.  get over it.  everyone makes mistakes at one point or another.

i thought the joffrey ballet auditions were wonderful.  and i was soooo so proud of chloe for getting the scholarship for the summer intensive.  she certainly deserves it. :)  now, chloe is a wonderful dancer, and she is so humble because she didn’t go around and brag to everyone else in her company that she got the scholarship.  she knew that everyone wanted that scholarship just as much as she did, but she earned it.  she truly earned it.  and i’m so glad that something good is finally happening for chloe because i feel like she is always considered second best to maddie.  i feel for the child.  i’ve been in similar situations my whole life.  anyway, maddie didn’t respond to chloe’s achievement in the best way.  yes, again, i undertand that she’s young, but as a dancer, her parents and abby should have explained to her that these are the types of trials and tribulations that she’ll be going through her whole life as a performer.  you have good auditions and bad ones, but they are learning and growing experiences no matter what.  there’s no need to cry, be jealous, or be bitter about it.  i don’t think melissa, her mom, handled it in the best way either.  yes, it was good of her to get maddie to stop crying and to stop being a brat about the entire ordeal, but i just don’t think she handled it in the best way.  she probably ended up getting maddie’s blood more boiled and her mind less focused on what she needed to perform on stage at the starbound competition.

okay then.  next thing.  the competition.  hahaha, silly kendall.  thinking she can go up against chloe with the red queen.  no no.  i’m sorry, but i think chloe is a fabulous actress when she is given these scary/dark roles on stage.  she works it!  love.  so much love.  kendall just has too much of a cutesy look to her that she couldn’t pull off the red queen as well as chloe.  PLUS!  kendall’s costume was too tight.  fail, cathy.  fail.  you should’ve gotten that thing sized accordingly.  yayyy to chloe for winning first!  again, i’m so proud of her!  hahaha, she’s not my child or anything, but i can still be proud of her.  she deserved it!

okay.  maddie’s turn.  she started her solo off wonderfully.  it was beautiful.  but she had a moment of panic, and she forgot her choreography.  so she runs off stage, crying hysterically, yelling at the stage man that she wanted to go again because abby was gonna hate her for forgetting her stuff.  in the audience, it shows abby crying because maddie forgot her choreography.  the other dance moms were FURIOUS simply because all of the other girls (i think, again, with the exception of brooke) had an experience of forgetting their choreography on stage in the middle of a competition or exhibition, and abby just yelled at them and told them to save their tears for their pillows because they meant nothing to her.  huh.  abby was so unbelievably crushed that maddie forgot her choreography, but she didn’t give a flying fuck about the other girls when they forgot theirs.  why?  why does abby only care about the well-being of maddie?  that kind of favoritism would crush me as a fellow student.

when abby goes back into the girls’ dressing room, she gives maddie a big hug and tells her not to worry.  like i said, when the other girls did the same thing, abby yelled at them with dismay and disappointment and told them to save their tears for their pillows.  when chloe saw how abby was treating maddie, she put her head down on the table as if she, too, were crushed by abby’s behavior.  how can you hold these girls at double standards?  how can you teach one way with some of the girls, but teach a totally different way with others?

i think that abby places wayyy too much importance on her own personal reputation.  it’s all about the abby lee miller name or the abby lee miller dance company or blah blah blah.  she doesn’t care that her dancers are beautiful girls and gorgeous dancers.  she doesn’t care that she has more than ONE dancer.  she seems to only care about maddie and getting maddie into the best auditions and giving her the best opportunities.  i love maddie.  she’s gorgeous, and she’s a wonderful dancer.  but i just don’t appreciate or approve of that kind of favoritism that abby is showing towards maddie.  my spirits would certainly be crushed if i were one of the other girls.  fuck, my spirits get crushed just watching the show!  and i’m not even in direct competition with maddie like the others are.  abby cares more about how many people from her studio she can say “made it” in the dance world.  how many people she has working on broadway.  how many people she has at the joffrey ballet.  bullshit bullshit bullshit.  it’s not about you, abby.  it’s about your students and the knowledge you’re giving them.  it’s about leaving a legacy like your mother did.  my gosh.  i just can’t stand her.

then she goes and leaves the competition with her tail tucked between her legs.  seriously, the moms were right.  she was running away because she was embarrassed about the way she acted earlier.  she shouldn’t have showed so much favoritism to maddie because the other girls aren’t stupid.  they notice.  and i’m sure they notice everything.  i’m sure mackenzie, maddie’s sister, also feels bad because abby doesn’t pay as much attention to her, yet she compares her to her sister every single week when we get to group numbers or the pyramid.  i just don’t understand.  it should be about the students.  helping them to succeed.  not “whipping them into shape” so that they can create a better name and reputation for you.  that’s just selfish.  you’re not contributing anything to the world except for a bunch of depressed, low-spirited little girls.  that’s NOT okay.  as a fellow dance teacher/choreographer, i don’t agree with these teaching methods.  she should probably check herself before she loses a lottt of students and a lot of respect.