Growing up, I found a tv show about girls who loved to dance with their friends. Through this show, I was able to vicariously live through their dance experiences. As a girl who has never been to a dance class, this show allowed me to learn about the dance world and find an appreciation for the art of dance. I grew up with the cast of Dance Moms. I began watching Dance Moms when season 2 was airing. All the screaming fights between the moms and Abby Lee Miller entertained me, although I never truly understood some of the profanity they used, until I was a teenager.
As a young adult, Dance Moms has become a comfort television show for me. You may find this strange because of all the fights and drama on the show, but it remains a comfort because of the friendships among the girls that always made me keep watching. It felt as if I was on the team cheering on Chloé, Maddie, Nia, or Paige when they had a solo. It felt as if they were my friends. Now, I rewatch Dance Moms when I need to escape from my life and into a fight about who is on top of the pyramid, or if the team is going up against Cathy and the Candy Apples. Dance Moms remains one of two reality shows that I watch consistently, but I think that is because it’s not wholly reality (much of it was influenced by the producers). However, now, I watch the show with a new critical perspective whenever I watch it, especially when I think of how the show psychologically affected the young girls as they had to grow up and enter adolescence with all these pressures and negativity placed upon them.
On November 1st, 2023, the official Dance Moms instagram (@dancemomstv) posted a live of a group of the girls from the show altogether in L.A. The day before this was posted all the original girls and moms were in L.A. celebrating Paige Hyland’s 23rd birthday. When I saw all the girls together for Paige’s birthday, it warmed my heart. It felt like an unofficial reunion for all the girls and moms that is outside of the moms’ podcasts they do with one another. The girls went through an odd experience of growing up on reality tv with Abby Lee Miller as a teacher. Essentially, as some girls stayed on the show or left, it caused some of their friendships to naturally drift apart.The yelling and drama has also caused many of the girls to seek therapy for their anxiety that stems from the pressures of the show and dance competitions. Chloé Lukasiak, a fan favorite from the show, has publicly spoken about her anxiety, and how she had to step away from dance because of how triggering it was for her. However, recently, she has expressed to her YouTube followers that she is taking a ballet class at her university, hopefully healing this part of her childhood.
According to the posts about the upcoming finale, we can expect the Dance Moms reunion to air on the television network, “Lifetime,” sometime in 2024. The girls began filming yesterday, and they recreated iconic moments from the show in TikToks, such as the infamous physical altercation between Abby and Kelly in season 4.
Based on the posts, it seems the following girls will be a part of the reunion: Chloé Lukasiak, Paige Hyland, Brooke Hyland, Kendall Vertes, Kalani Hilliker, and JoJo Siwa. The moms will also be featured on the reunion, and this includes Kelly Hyland, Jill Vertes, Kira Girard, and Jessalynn Siwa. It will be interesting to see some of these girls interact, such as JoJo and the Hylands because they were never on the show together at the same time.
Christi Lukasiak commented that she was not able to be there for this particular reunion special, but “you haven’t seen the end of [her] in the Dance Moms universe,” according to her instagram post. Hopefully, we will be able to see Christi join her daughter and the other moms in another surprise special.
Fans were quick to notice that Maddie Ziegler, Mackenzie Ziegler, Melissa Ziegler, Nia Sioux Frazier, and Dr. Holly Frazier were not in any of the photos or videos for the official reunion. This was surprising to fans since they were pictured at Paige Hyland’s birthday celebration the night prior to the announcement. This is causing everyone to speculate their reasoning for not participating in the reunion special.
According to JoJo Siwa’s instagram comment, she responded to fans wondering about where three of the original girls were. She expressed that she is “Grateful for this day! For everyone wondering about the few people missing, everyone was invited today but only some wanted to be here.”
With this, it must be noticed that all of the girls and their mothers were invited to the special, but decided on their own account not to participate. This may be because they do not want to relive the sad memories and trauma that came with being child stars on the reality show. All of the girls are appreciative of their experience on the show, and the platform it has given them, but it does not take away from how their confidence and self-worth was knocked down every week thinking “everyone is replaceable.” However, I hope with this reunion, the girls can reminisce on the fond and loving memories of dancing and friendship, rather than the fighting and hurt they all went through. The girls are what made the show, and it is amazing to see them finally taking center stage as grown adults, rather than their moms and Abby. I cannot wait to tune into the Dance Moms reunion special in 2024. It is going to be nostalgic for all of us young girls who grew up watching the show.
Keep an eye out on the Dance Moms instagram (@dancemomstv) for official updates on when the special will air!