Many view the Lifetime television show Dance Moms as a quirky reality show about crazy over-involved mothers. In my opinion, the filming and production of this show could also be considered a social experiment that unintentionally mirrored the structure of the U.S. government. Since the cast and their dynamics were constantly changing during the last four seasons, I will mainly be focusing on the main cast from the first four seasons in this analogy.
Dance Moms is a reality show about a group of young dancers who practice at a studio near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their team competes in dance competitions on a weekly basis, with new choreography in a new location every week. Most dancers work on their performances for months at a time and only compete at a few competitions each year, so this team’s situation is unique, especially when you consider they are constantly surrounded by microphones and cameras at every practice, audition, show, and competition.
Abby Lee Miller, the owner of the dance studio, acts as the president of the cast. In the show, she referred to herself as the God or the dictator of her studio, but unfortunately for her, her power is not unlimited. In my opinion, Abby is comparable to former President Donald Trump. Aside from their messy hair and uneven spray tans, they also have similar personalities. They are both brutally honest and not afraid to offend anyone or speak their mind.
If Abby is the president of her studio, then Gianna Martello, the teacher and assistant choreographer for the competition team, is her vice president. Of course, we do not know if Gianna is the vice president of just this team or of the entire studio, because the show only consistently portrays this specific team. Regardless, the producers and many audience members often underestimate the power that Gianna has since she was not on camera as often as Abby or the mothers. Abby has confirmed on her YouTube channel that she always consulted Gianna when deciding who would perform which dances, what costumes the dancers would wear, and how the dancers would be ranked on the weekly pyramid. It was also Gianna’s responsibility to manage the team during the weeks that Abby was absent. There were many episodes in which the plot and the drama were facilitated in part by Gianna. For example, on one of the weeks that Abby was absent from her studio, she threatened to fire Gianna if she allowed Brooke Hyland to perform a solo dance, and Gianna choreographed and taught Brooke a solo anyway. In the end, Abby did not fire her because she knew she was integral to the studio as well as the success of the competition team. These situations reflect how the American voters often underestimate the importance and power of the vice president.
It is a tradition on the show for Abby to rank the dancers on a visual pyramid at the beginning of each week. This infamous pyramid reflects the socio-economic classes within society. Instead of money, the differences between the social classes at the dance studio are based on their number of opportunities to perform at competitions. The dancers who were most often on the bottom row of the pyramid — Paige Hyland and Nia Frazier — received more verbal abuse and fewer opportunities for success, just like the members of the lowest socio-economic class within society. The dancer who is at the top of the pyramid almost every week, Maddie Ziegler, represents the elite wealthy class. Throughout the series, Maddie is given the most opportunities to perform out of all the dancers on her team. The dancers who are usually on the middle row of the pyramid — Chloe Lukasiak, Mackenzie Zeigler, Brooke Hyland, and Kendall Vertes — mirror the middle class, since they receive opportunities during some weeks, and verbal abuse during other weeks, just as members of the middle class within the U.S. receive job opportunities, even though they are hard to come by. The illusion of meritocracy and class mobility was also present at the Abby Lee Dance Company. Abby constantly tells her dancers they could be at the top of her pyramid if they just worked harder but all the dancers worked very hard while receiving little to no recognition from their teachers. This is reflective of how the lower and middle economic classes within the U.S. are constantly told that they could become millionaires or billionaires if they just worked harder, but oftentimes the members of these lower classes work harder than CEOs, without ever reaching their level of success.
The mothers of the dancers acted as the U.S. Congress by presenting their children’s wants and needs to Abby. Christi Lukasiak, Kelly Hyland, and Holly Hatcher-Frazier act as progressive Congress members by constantly fighting for the dancers to receive equal opportunities and equal treatment. Jill Vertes and Melissa Gisoni are most comparable to Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. These two senators were elected as a part of the democratic party, but have voted with the republicans on numerous bills, since they know that most of their constituents identify as republican. Jill and Melissa often verbally claimed their alliances are with the other mothers, but would often act in support of Abby, because they knew their children would benefit when they did. For example, all the mothers agreed that they would not allow their children to perform on Abby’s other reality show in protest of her abusive behavior, but when Maddie was invited on the show, Melissa allowed her to perform because she knew it would help to maintain her daughter’s status as Abby’s favorite dancer. Melissa’s decision ended up causing Abby to mistreat the other dancer, Chloe Lukasiak, who was invited but did not participate. This is an example of how the lack of unity within society can prevent progress and equality.
The camera crew, editors, and producers of Dance Moms are comparable to the mainstream news media. At the end of each week, the editors and producers altered and portrayed the cast and their arguments however they wanted. For example, at the end of Season 4, the producers cut out the audio of Abby insulting an aspect of Chloe Lukasiak’s physical appearance that is caused by a medical condition, but left in the clip of her mother’s reaction in order to convince the audience that her mother was overdramatic. Much like many news media channels, the Lifetime producers are more focused on entertainment value than accuracy or educational value. When the mainstream media misrepresents politicians, they can lose supporters or even receive death threats. Many of the Dance Moms cast members have also received negative comments and death threats on social media due to the way that they were portrayed on the show.
Overall, this show was an interesting display of how power dynamics that develop within small social circles mirror those crafted by larger social groups.