The Big Picture
- Dance Moms has stayed popular long after its cancelation due to its chaotic energy, thrilling drama, and ridiculous combination of intense fights within the innocent premise of a dance studio.
- The heart of the show was the dynamic between the mothers, who fought fiercely for their children, and their genuine emotions made the conflicts compelling and relatable.
- The first few years of Dance Moms have stood the test of time with hilarious scenes and unforgettable dialogue, making it an iconic piece of television that continues to be referenced and shared today.
Why is it that certain reality shows are forgotten the minute they're off the air, while others are still popular even long after their cancelation? Many shows have stayed current, proving just how iconic their runs were, with few amassing the staying power of Lifetime's Dance Moms. Created by Collins Avenue Productions, this series premiered more than a decade ago and has been off the air for five years, yet still gets brought up in current conversations about reality TV. While it's not the only one to achieve this notoriety, it's one of the few series without a prominent spin-off or a reboot on the air keeping it fresh in viewers' minds.
It's chaotic energy and thrilling drama are core elements of any good drama, but there was just something about this series that gave it a special edge over your typical reality fare. Many shows have tried replicating its wild popularity. They almost always miss the authenticity (and utter ridiculousness) that made it such a hit so many years ago. The fame this documentary-style series about kids dancing has garnered deserves to be studied, and maybe a review of the program will reveal just how exactly it's been able to stick around for as long as it has.
What Exactly is 'Dance Moms'?
Dance Moms follows dance instructor Abby Lee Miller, a notoriously brutal choreographer who is coaching a team of young dancers at her studio, the aptly named Abby Lee Dance Company. The young girls on her squad enter the show with remarkable talent and the mom is determined to help her daughter become a star - although it's clear by the title just who the real stars of this series are.
When it was first marketed, the show seemed determined to offer a legitimate insight into the world of professional dance; audiences expected a showcase of this art form, an engaging portrayal of the dreams and talents that create world-famous dancers and the women who nurture them. While this would have been an interesting watch, it definitely wouldn't have been a thoroughly exciting or theatrical experience for most viewers - cue Abby Lee Miller herself, whose rough personality earned the ire of the moms and the delight of audiences everywhere.
The choreographer felt the right to brazenly criticize everyone who entered her studio; while this was a more toned-down version of the scathing reads featured on other reality series, this environment of familial bonds and professional aspiration meant every comment was always heightened to infuriate anyone it was directed at. Abby found worthy opponents with the program's original members, mothers like Holly Hatcher-Frazier and Christi Lukasiak who felt no qualms about offering their own scathing remarks about the woman and her grating personality. This constant, rage-filled back and forth was riveting to watch - and then viewers remembered this was a show about a youth dancing competition. A truly ridiculous combination, the drama this series was able to extract from such an innocent topic delighted audiences to no end. The women themselves often recognized just how outlandish it was that they were screaming at each other over petty dance drama, but it was Abby's callousness that always dragged them back into the rampant theatrics that made the program so popular. This ridiculousness spawned countless iconic (and hilarious) scenes from the show that, even so many years later, never fail to make viewers laugh and wonder just what exactly they were watching.
The Actual Dance Moms Made the Show More Entertaining
While its drama was driven by Abby and her rude comments, the true heart of what made Dance Moms so great was its titular stars: the mothers. While this group of women changed over the years, the cast was always filled with women ready to fight anyone for the sake of their children. While their motivations were oftentimes questionable - especially in later seasons where dancing took a backseat to the mothers ridiculing each other directly - it's undeniable that the reality of these women is what made the conflicts so compelling.
These weren't the rich and glamorous stars of series like The Real Housewiveswhose conflicts were always painted in a luxurious veneer; these fights were between everyday mothers whose genuine emotions were exaggerated by the tense situations and clear incitement from their choreographer. It's very questionable if any of these verbal brawls were justified, but one aspect of them was always clear: these characters were more similar to the people watching than almost any other reality show at that time.
While its later seasons became more and more produced (with many facts after its cancelation showing just how fake these installments were), it's the original authenticity of the show that gained it the following it still has now. The visceral emotion of these mothers arguing on behalf of their young daughters - all of whom just watched and hoped it would end soon, so they could dance - created pulse-pounding situations that funnily occurred within the walls of a dance studio. Their heightened emotions (spurred on by Abby) created unbelievable expressions of their anger that often devolved into screaming matches filled with unforgettable dialogue still casually referenced in online conversations today. The relationships that built Dance Moms and the actions of its participants are extremely complex, but no matter what it was that created the perfect setting for these intense fights, the fact that it was set within such an innocuous premise explains why it created such a long-lasting source of hilarity for viewers.
'Dance Moms' Was a Thrilling Drama in a Weird Setting
While its later seasons (and failed 'spin-offs') may have been more akin to the forgettable reality TV shows that pollute airways to this day, the first few years of Dance Moms are pieces of television that have truly stood the test of time. YouTube deep-dives (and numerous meme compilations) of it are still made to this day, and it only takes a cursory scroll through social media to see the series living on through funny clips or reaction gifs. It is not the only show to persist in this way. It stands apart by shirking the usual setup of adults feuding over random issues by grounding itself in the story of mothers earnestly trying to help their daughters' careers, and sticking it to the horrid choreographer they've been saddled with. This completely random combination creates a shockingly effective piece of reality television that thrilled audiences when it premiered and is still able to make viewers laugh now. It has a myriad of issues and its content is deeply flawed, meaning that it may be for the best for everyone that it's off the air now. But there's no denying that, despite its faults, Dance Moms was a piece of television that was a marvel of its time and shows no sign of losing its iconic status.
Even for programs that have ceased airing, it's the ultimate goal to make a piece of television that viewers love long after it's done. To create something so iconic that the culture can't resist bringing it up in conversation or centering it within some new intellectual framework. Many shows have tried to accomplish this and some have succeeded, but almost none have achieved the staying power that Dance Moms has. Its hilariously insightful look into the (sort of?) real world of child dancers and the people meant to help grow their gifts is a gold mine that produced countless funny scenes and pieces of dialogue still being discovered now. It is historic in just how much of an impact it has had on television, and it deserves credit for sticking around in the minds of viewers for so long (with no sign of leaving anytime soon).
All eight seasons of Dance Moms are available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
