“Dance Moms” is my not-so-guilty guilty pleasure. I say it's my guilty pleasure because it's not the highest quality TV; however, I don’t feel guilty about watching it at all. As I look back at my time watching the ridiculous reality TV show, I realize all of the things it taught me. The show displays real people, and through that, “real” experiences. Obviously, there is some fabrication to make the TV show more interesting, but it is not aimed to give lessons like many sitcoms.
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1. It taught me to surround myself with people who support me.
I would not say I am a huge fan of Abby as a person, especially considering the way she treated dancers like Chloe. Abby relentlessly set Chloe up for failure because she did not like Christi. After years of belittling and yelling, Chloe left the show. Although I was saddened by this because I would have loved to continuing watching Chloe dance, it was the best decision for her. Soon after Chloe left the show, she won the Teen Choice Award for Best Dancer. Leaving Abby's constant negativity made it possible for Chloe to truly succeed.
2. It let me love dance again.
I began dancing when I was 5 years old and didn’t really like it until I was in the seventh or eighth grade. My parents put me in ballet to teach me discipline and to help teach me good posture. My mom told me I had to stay committed to it until high school. I was always embarrassed that I was that kid who was still in ballet-- until "Dance Moms" began airing. I saw these young girls spinning like a top and wanted to be one of them. I fell in love with dance finally and began actually trying to succeed.
3. It inspired me to better myself.
Watching a seven-year-old girl that was able to perform many more skills than you is not a particularly pleasant experience. I wanted to be able to do all these things, so I started to learn. I began to work hard for it and really try to be the best I could be. I now know that these girls have far different training than I did, and will forever be better than me, but now I watch in awe.
I was lucky enough to watch the girls dance live over this past weekend and it might have been one of the best experiences of my life. On the TV show, it's obvious that they are talented because they are always winning, but the viewer only gets to see small snippets of them dancing. What I saw preformed was truly amazing. I got to watch these girls compete against other studios, and they blew everybody out of the water. My reaction wasn’t simply, “Oh they are pretty good.” It was more along the lines of, "Wow, these kids are truly amazing." And I will be forever thankful for the show "Dance Moms" and the opportunity I had to see the stars perform with my own eyes.
