Cruel Dance

Is Dance Moms cruel or kind?

08:00Unknown

I'm sure everyone has heard of Dance Moms and the scariest dance teacher on the planet Abby Lee Miller, but if you haven't let me get you up to speed.


Dance Moms is about a small dance group aged between 8 and 12 (sometimes up to 16) who compete every week in dance competitions for their dance school the Abby Lee Dance Company. They have two days to learn a dance routine and then after they've competed they pretty much get yelled at and told they will always be a failure in life if they come anywhere other than first. Then at the start of the next week the girls and their mothers attend pyramid where they once again get berated as well as ranked on their 'performance' (or how much the teacher likes them) in a pyramid formation as shown below.

The treatment the girls receive is undoubtedly harsh and very over dramatic especially when students get suspended from a dance school because their mothers argued back on behalf of their daughters. But is the harsh critique good for the young girls or bad? I think the answer is fairly obvious. No it isn't good for the girls. I think it's actually quite cruel. Although it may bring results there is absolutely other ways to successfully achieve well rounded students with a lot of skill and talent without berating them at any opportunity. Don't get me wrong I find the programme very entertaining especially the war between the mothers and Abby Lee. However I do find it distressing especially in her treatment of dancers such as Chloe, who in my opinion tries very hard every week and either gets ignored or punished for something that probably had nothing to do with her in the first place.

Overall I think although the show is entertaining I think like a lot of 'reality' tv it is over done in the bad treatment and berating someone once for a mistake is more than enough especially when they're so young. Why beat down these girls before they even hit puberty? They won't have any self confidence. Luckily they have the support of the public but I more worry for the students at the dance school who aren't on tv. Someone needs to watch out for them.

I certainly wouldn't have sent my theoretical child to her dance school. Let me know what you think in the comments

Annie Rose XOXO

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