Everyone has some staple TV shows that defined various parts of their childhood. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that spur a wave of nostalgia when you see them advertised, bringing you right back to your favorite TV-watching spot on your childhood couch. I can think of at least five shows that defined different parts of my childhood in this way, but recently, one has resurfaced in popularity on TikTok and across social media platforms. This show is none other than the hit reality series of the early-mid 2010s, Dance Moms.
I’m convinced everyone that I’ve known has had a Dance Moms phase at some point, and if you haven’t, I’m confident you’ve at least heard of the show and its dramatic leader: Abby Lee Miller. Dance Moms ran from 2011 to 2019, spanning over eight years total of stunning dances, dramatic moms and utterly addicting chaos. The show centers around a competitive junior elite team of dancers in the Abby Lee Dance Company (ALDC) whose ages in season one spanned from six to nine. All the “originals” left by the time they were between the ages of 13 and 15, making way for new sets of dancers, ages eight to 14, to join the team and the show. Now, most of these kids rose to fame at very young ages, and if you’ve seen the show, you know that Abby Lee Miller, their dance coach, didn’t take the softest approach when teaching. Being put not only under the spotlight at such a young age but also under immense amounts of pressure and harsh criticism from Miller herself and America must have left a lasting impression on these children, right? Oh, you bet. This show impacted the lives of these child-star dancers forever, so now the question stands, where are they now? How did this show, which blew up in the heat of their formative years, shape the way they entered and currently live their young adult lives?
There’s a certain group of dancers that are considered the “original” group, as well as their moms being correspondingly considered the “original” moms. This group consists of Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler and their mom Melissa, Kendall Vertes and her mom Jill, Nia Sioux and her mom Holly, and Chloe Lukasiak and her mom Christi. However, there are a couple more dancers that were added throughout the seasons as the show’s popularity spiked that are also considered staple members, which are Kalani Hilliker and her mom Kira, and JoJo Siwa and her mom Jessalynn.
Today, these girls are all between the ages of 18 to 22, and are, not so shockingly, still quite famous from their time on Dance Moms. The girls all entered the ALDC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as young ladies with an intense love, drive and passion for competitive dance, and were as you can rightfully assume, extremely talented in this field.
Now you may be wondering, do these girls still dance now? How do they feel about their time on the show, and having been displayed to the world in their most vulnerable moments at such an adolescent age? How have their relationships with dance and themselves changed from this series? How did Miller’s harsh attitude and critiques affect the young adults they have grown into?
Many of the girls have spoken out since the show ended about the effects it has had on them and where they stand now in relation to dance and their careers. The “it-girl” of the show, Maddie Ziegler, is arguably the most famous and successful from her time being the golden child on Dance Moms. She did an interview with Buzzfeed in 2022 addressing her time on the show and how the toxicity of the environment affected her development. She explains how she dissociated most of her time on the show and will see scenes from it that she has no recollection of filming. She also states how Miller instilled in the young girls the mindset that if they didn’t win, then they were lesser, which in Ziegler’s words, “is the worst way to train a kid. It carries into other life lessons.” Ziegler did also touch upon how the show, unfortunately, did taint her love for competitive dance, which is something she no longer pursues.
Kendall Vertes shared through an interview for cheatsheet.com that Miller would say very harsh and offensive things to the girls during their time training with her as well. Vertes explains how Miller would call them “old and washed up and slugs and fat,” which heavily affected her self-image and was a driving reason for her decision to leave the ALDC. Nia Sioux also opened up to Seventeen Magazine about her life since she left the show in 2018, and in it, expressed how she feels the reality show did escalate a lot of her childhood. However, in contrast to her fellow “originals,” Sioux went on to discuss how she did appreciate a lot of her time with the ALDC, and how although she had many negative experiences and thoughts surrounding the series, she has “a lot to thank for the show, and will never take that for granted.” Vertes is now an actress and singer and also attends James Madison University (JMU) in Virginia. Sioux is now studying American Literature at UCLA. Unfortunately, both girls have not continued pursuing their dance careers since leaving the show.
Even though none of the child-star dancers have continued to pursue competitive dance since their time on the show and with the ALDC ended, they do all have successful, flourishing careers of their own in their respective fields. Despite the criticism and harmful mindset that the girls were placed in and endured throughout their formative years on the show, they all have expressed gratitude nonetheless that Dance Moms helped them get to where they are now, and to lead happy and healthy lives. So, next time you binge your favorite seasons of Dance Moms, check out what the girls are up to now and see the awesome projects and careers they’ve accomplished so far into their young adulthoods.
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