10 Behind-The-Scenes Things We Learned

Reality shows have more secrets than what they show onscreen, and Dance Moms is no exception. Are they scripted? Are the supposed “enemies” actual friends when the cameras stop rolling? The hit series Dance Moms has more than what meets the eye involved behind the scenes, from Dance Moms biggest fights to the infamous pyramid.

Were the competitions real? Were the fights scripted? Did the young dancers even want to be on the show? JoJo Siwa has revealed secrets about her time on Dance Moms, but there’s so much more. What was it really like to be on Dance Moms?

Competitions Are Re-Filmed

When watching Dance Moms, it’s easy to wonder how the competitions are organized and filmed. How do the cameras capture the routines when there are judges and an audience? As it turns out, according to the girls, the dancers perform their routine for the judges and then complete a second performance for the cameras. This allows the crew to capture all the footage they need for the finalized episode.

In 2014, International Business Times traveled to the Sheer Talent competition in New Jersey. They learned it took nine hours to film just one competition segment of an episode. The dancers were often exhausted by the end of the day, and we can’t blame them.

Mackenzie Ziegler Didn’t Want To Dance

In 2018, Mackenzie Ziegler (younger sister of Dance Moms superstar Maddie Ziegler) shared her experience on the reality series in a tell-all book, Kenzie’s Rules for Life: How to be Happy, Healthy, and Dance to Your Own Beat. In the book, Ziegler revealed she didn’t like dancing when she started the show in 2011.

“I didn’t feel like I was good enough,” Ziegler shared. “I was also really nervous about people watching me on TV. Would they laugh at me? Would I look really stupid up there? I know the cameras would be following us around and catching everything I did and said. I was embarrassed and really insecure.” That’s a lot to handle for a six-year-old.

Why Chloe Left The Show

Chloe Lukasiak was a fan favorite, so it was shocking when she unexpectedly left the show following its fourth season. However, there were already problems at the start of the season. In a YouTube video, Lukasiak explained that she was kicked out of the dance studio one day because she wouldn’t sign a contract concerning her weight and appearance.

She said, “It said things like you couldn’t gain or lose five or 10 pounds, something like that. You couldn’t do anything to your hair.” Lukasiak also explained her former dance teacher (Abby Lee Miller) wanted 10 percent of the money Lukasiak made on the show. The dancer wouldn’t sign the contract and had to leave the studio.

It Wasn’t Supposed To Be A Reality Show

Dance Moms seems like the perfect concept for a reality series, but it wasn’t originally supposed to be a reality show. Instead, it was pitched as a documentary series. Dance Moms alum Nia Sioux shared on her YouTube channel that the show was supposed to be entirely different.

She explained, “It was only supposed to be for six weeks and six episodes, so we never really thought anything of it. Obviously, it turned into much more than that.” Clearly, producers realized the potential for a major reality show.

How The Girls Went To School

The young dancers had a busy schedule while filming for Dance Moms. The girls had to go to school between the filming and dance rehearsals. Some still attended public school, while others were homeschooled across the street from the Abby Lee Dance Company studio. The schedule for the young girls of Dance Moms was grueling. They studied from 8 to 11 a.m., had a lunch break, and then resumed school until 4 or 5 p.m. until it was time to dance all night. The girls shared one schoolteacher, even though they were in different grades.

Abby Was Even Worse Off Camera

It’s hard to imagine Abby Lee Miller’s temper being any worse behind-the-scenes than she behaved when the cameras were rolling. However, Jill Vertes (Kendall’s mother) shared in an interview for Australia’s Studio 10 that she was even worse off camera. Vertes commented, “People think that it’s gotta be for the cameras, and it’s not. It’s really who she is.” She added that the girl dancers could “attest that she [Miller] would be worse when the cameras were off because she really doesn’t want everybody to hate her.”

The Girls Were Stressed

The dancers were young girls when they were on Dance Moms, and shouldn’t have endured the hectic schedules, stress, and behavior. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Maddie revealed in her tell-all book, The Maddie Diaries, that she did “a lot of crying” in the early seasons. She was pressured to perform, even when she was sick. Ziegler added, “I learned a lot of lessons. I had the craziest time when I was with her [Abby Lee Miller] and on that team. I was stressed at 11 years old, which shouldn’t happen.” Because of this, the girls typically don’t speak fondly of their experiences on the show.

They Learned The Dances Quickly

If it seems like the girls learned their weekly dance routines far too quickly, it was really like that. Nia Sioux explained, “We started the dance on Wednesday. We would finish it either Thursday or Friday, and we would compete Saturday.” The girls would often dance until late hours of the night – far later than young girls should stay at a dance studio. They had to learn their routines quickly, but the camera crew allowed some retakes if mistakes were made during the competition performances. The girls had more time on the day of the competition to perfect their routines to the best of their ability.

The Pyramid Took Forever

One of the most famous aspects of Dance Moms was the “pyramid” segment at the beginning of every episode. Abby Lee Miller ranked the girls’ performances from the previous competition, which Chloe Lukasiak commented wasn’t a normal thing to do. She said, “Let’s rank children and tell them how horrible they are.”

Lukasiak explained that the dance studio never used the system before starting the show. It also took about two hours to film the segment. She said, “Imagine standing there for two hours listening to your dance teacher talk, and most of the time, she’s telling five out of six children how horrible they are.”

The Drama Was Mostly Staged

With any reality television series, the drama isn’t totally “reality.” Dance Moms didn’t have a script, but situations were set up. Dancer Payton Ackerman explained, “All I can tell you is that they set up situations that might have not actually happened, which causes a reaction to something that happened that wouldn’t have if they didn’t set it up.”

However, there was drama between the moms. Nia Sioux explained, “If it wasn’t like that in normal life, then the show wouldn’t have even picked our studio in the first place.” Dance Momsmay not have always been “real,” but there were plenty of real fights.

Source: International Business Times, Chloe Lukasiak/YouTube, Nia Sioux/YouTube, Studio 10