Last week, Abby's dancers performed at the DTI competition in North Carolina, and she didn't think they were up to par (although they did win a 1st place trophy). Kendal performed her first solo, but she is still on probation and Abby is questioning her confidence. This week, they head to the Rising Star competition in Columbus, Ohio.
Episode 2 Dance Moms Pyramid
Abby announces this week's pyramid. On the bottom is Kendal (still on probation after not quite measuring up last week), Mackenzie (Abby comments that Maddie danced better than her at 7 years old, so she needs to work harder), Brooke (whose crying outburst last week bothered Abby), and Paige (who apparently had to be told "32 times" to sit down on the bus ride home).
The top tiers of the pyramid remain the same: Nia and Chloe in the middle, and Maddie at the top. In a different twist than last week, however, the top three are not competing with solos. All of the girls will perform in a group routine, and Brooke will compete with a solo. She will be going up against a dancer from Cathy's Candy Apple's Dance Center in the same age category.
With this, Abby starts the nasty comments: "I want you to make applesauce out of that kid. Backstage, freak that kid out. I want her in tears before she ever sets foot on that stage."
New Dance Mom Jill Stands Up to Abby
While the girls are rehearsing their group routine (which Abby is calling "Bad Apples"), Jill starts to complain to the other moms, saying that Kendal does not deserve to be at the bottom of the pyramid. She says it is not fair that Kendal learned her solo in three days and then had the song changed the night before competing. The other moms encourage her to go downstairs and tell Abby, as a sort of initiation. Holly and Christy especially push her, because they know that Jill wants Chloe or Nia to be knocked down so that Kendal can be moved up in the pyramid.
When Jill brings up her concerns, Abby tells her that everyone wants to be at the top of the pyramid, and everyone needs to work hard to get to that point. Kendal needs to work even harder, since she is still on probation.
At lunch, Christy and Kelly discuss Jill, and Christy brings out a book from a competition a few years ago, when Chloe, Maddie and Kendal competed against each other in the same category. Maddie received 1st place, Chloe got 3rd place, and Kendal came in 10th. Christy says they need to find out why Jill is a studio hopper, because she thinks Jill and Kendal may have been "kicked out" of their old studios.
Competition Rehearsals for Rising Star in Columbus, OH
As Brooke rehearses her lyrical/acrobatic solo, "Garden of Eden," Cathy's dancer is also shown rehearsing. Erica is a two-time title winner, and Cathy thinks her technique is better than Brooke's. She says that Brooke's strength is "laying on the floor and then crawling around on her neck." Cathy's daughter Vivi is also in the room, and Cathy tells her to "dance like you want to earn a puppy", as if they have some kind of deal worked out for Vivi to get a puppy for a good competition.
During the group rehearsal, Kelly brings down some props that Brooke needs for her solo. Since she interrupts the large rehearsal, Abby yells at her. She then asks Kelly if she is drinking, in front of all the dancers. After she returns upstairs, Kelly questions why she continues to stay at Abby's studio, saying she is "not doing [my] job as a mom by letting her treat them that way."
Cathy also rehearses a group routine, which she says will show off her dancers' technique and prove that her dancers are better than Abby's.
Dance Moms at Rising Star Competition in Columbus, OH
On the bus to Ohio, Jill and Melissa reveal that they jointly purchased a gift for Abby this week, a cocktail ring. With the other moms rolling their eyes, Melissa says they were out shopping and saw it and thought of Abby. Abby quips, "next time you're out, I need a husband."
At check-in at the hotel, the moms get an invitation to a reception from Cathy. They meet her at the Presidential Suite, and it is an obvious ploy to try to entice the moms over to Cathy's studio. She tells them that they should go "somewhere where [they] will be happy." Christy rightly comments that Cathy is "trying to poach us" from Abby.
As the moms try to work with new hairstyles (and get yelled at by Abby for buying thick, crocheted snoods instead of thin ones), they tell Abby about Cathy's invitation. She says that it constitutes solicitation, and she would never do something like that. She is upset that all of the moms went behind her back to meet with Cathy.
Abby's girls perform "Bad Apples", and, despite some missteps by Nia and Kendal, it is a very good routine and performed well. Cathy's dancers perform a spanish-style jazz routine with a lot of turns and fouette combinations. Melissa comments that Cathy's girls look a lot older than theirs, and Abby says she is very concerned about how good their technique is for their supposed ages.
Back in the dressing room, Jill suggests that Abby say something to the competition officials about the ages of Cathy's girls. Abby, however, wants to win the competition on the talent and technique of her dancers, and not because she has to call someone out for lying about a dancer's age.
At the group awards, Cathy's dancers come in 2nd place and Abby's dancers win 1st. Cathy is upset and demands to see the scores (her girls scored 275 against Abby's 287). She decides to focus on Erica's solo.
Brooke performs very well, and even garners some praise from Abby for her performance. Erica's solo is also good, and Abby says she dances with a maturity that Brooke doesn't yet. Kelly thinks that she doesn't look like a dancer from Cathy's studio, and Christy says she looks at least 15 years old, when this category is for 11-12 year olds.
Competition officials approach Cathy, saying that "a lot" of people are questioning Erica's age, and they know she has competed in a 13-14 age group at another competition (it is not clear whether or not Abby or her moms complained). Since this competition uses the dancer's age as of January 1st in the year of the competition, Erica is actually in the wrong category. She is 14. On January 1st, Brooke was 12 (her birthday is January 30th), so she is in the correct category.
Brooke takes 1st place in the category for solos, and it appears that Erica is disqualified.
Actual Results for Rising Star Competition
What actually happened? The routine that Abby called "Bad Apples" was actually called "Apple Tree", and they did win 1st place in the Small Group Junior category. Cathy's group routine did win 2nd place in the same category.
Brooke's solo did take home at 1st place in the Junior category, and Erica is not listed anywhere in the results. It is unclear whether or not she was completely disqualified.
What was not shown was Maddie's solo. She did compete at Rising Star, and won 1st place in the Petite Solo category.
Rising Star's age groups for overall awards are Petite (8 and under), Junior (9-12), Teen (13-14), and Senior (15-19). Their solos compete as 4 and under, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-19, 20-39, and 40 and over.
Next week, the dancers head to Starbound competition in New Jersey, and Brooke may decide to try out for cheerleading instead of attending the competition.
Terry Finch - Terry Finch is a dance teacher and choreographer in Central PA with an extensive training and teaching background in many forms of ...
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