Are any of you watching Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition?

[DDD]

I have NO background in dance. But for some reason I am mesmerized (sp??) by the Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition. I avoid "stressful" programs in recent months, lol, and once I started watching this show I am enchanted. Yep, I said "enchanted". These little girls who are competing for mega prizes are simply awesome. There is one little six or seven year old who leaves me gobsmacked each time I watch her perform...against teenagers, for heavens sake. The talent, the flexability, the sense of purpose..it is mindboggling to me. Are any of you watching it? If I miss a show I pull it up on cable repeats and each time I find myself smiling...particularly when I see the kinda chunky little girl giving her all. Wow! DDD

 

[DazedandConfused]

I watch Dance Moms, so I began watch this (DVR). Though, DM is becoming heavily scripted and I'm thinking of stopping.

The little girl is a very good dancer with an amazing stage presence, but she can't keep up with the other girls when it comes to timing and technique. It's really beginning to show now that she has made it this far. If she keeps it up with the dance training, in a few years, she'll be amazing. I don't really have a favorite, though.

Abby is so harsh at times. I know the dance world is a heartless and a tough business, but sheesh! They're kids!

 

[DammitJanet]

I love this show. I also love asia. I agree they should have had a split in age though. Maybe 5 through 8 and 9 to 13. That would have been much more fair. No 6 year old can compare with a 13 year old and anyone who doesnt know that needs their head examined. Asia is so good at what she does though she is mesmerizing. I hated that woman with the stupid fake smile on her face all the time. I wanted to shoot my tv. LOL

 

[DDD]

Abby does seem to have a soft spot for the little performers who put their all into it. I don't know zip about ballet but I'm wondering if success is possible for short thick young women. The only performances I have seen have all tall and lean dancers. I'd bet Asia is not going to shoot up too much. Isn't her smile just amazing? LOL DDD

 

[DammitJanet]

Well all dance isnt ballet anymore. Any child that can get that leg up past her head and keep it completely straight at her age is doing quite well in my opinion.

 

[DDD]

I agree, Janet. DDD

 

[svengandhi]

I have 3 left feet. Before I got married, we went to dance lessons and the teacher said H was just fine but that we should postpone the wedding because I needed severe remediation and training. Tone deafness apparently affects dancing ability, too.

That said, I enjoy this show for some bizarre reason. Maybe it's because it's nice to see a fat woman succeeding.

I think Asia is adorable but a little too precious for my taste. Even I can see that she isn't keeping up with the older girls. She would wipe the floor with her agemates but I think she's getting an easy ride because of her age. If one of the older girls was as off the beat as she is, she'd have been long gone.

Interestingly, my 13 year old son says this show is "child abuse."

 

[DDD]

Abby's regular show might very well qualify for your son's description. That show is nuts, lol. This one I don't find as aggressive and I do expect one of the big girls to win. In fact I don't think Asia would benefit from the victory because she is just too young in my humble opinion. Cute as a bug in a rug, though. DDD

 

[svengandhi]

My son leaves the room when the regular show is on... He asked me how I could stand to watch it. I told him I watch it to get parenting tips, LOL!

I agree that this show is toned down from the regular one but some of the kids are the same, I think.

 

[DammitJanet]

Some of the mothers are the same! Lord that blond woman with that fake smile rankled me so much I wanted to climb through the TV and whip her butt. LOL

I watch Dance Mom's too though it irritates Tony to no end. Maybe that's why I like it so much...lol. I like the show. I think the mom's are a hoot and I love the little girls who dance. Especially Maddy and McKenzie. McKenzie is cute as all get out.

I wont be surprised if we see the boy Zack on Dance Mom's this coming season. Abby made a comment that makes me think that.

 

[susiestar]

Wow/ I knew it was popular but I can't watch it. i get so angry with that hag Abby because she is so mean to the kids. I cannot stand that parents allow their kids to be treated this way. There is ZERO chance one of my kids would be in that competition because I would never tolerate the way the adults act. Sure, the kids are incredible. But don't we know that they are KIDS? There are troupes that are this level who are not abused by the adults. I know because I have a cousin who is 19 who is am amazing ballerina and she has NEVER been treated this way because she would not tolerate it, not even at age five. She left one dance studio because the owner was so demeaning and awful. She was eight and found another school and told her mom she was changing schools. Didn't ask, just said it was happening, and she was so determined and so angry over the abusive treatment that my aunt said okay. This young woman is not only studying dance in college, she has danced for many years with a professional ballet company at several performances each year. She did this the first tiem when she was seven or eight.

I hate that there are now many many young girls who think that a dance teacher is SUPPOSED to behave like Abby. After all, tv is reality for many kids and if Abby is on tv then she must be great. I wonder what is in the parents' heads to allow ANYONE to abuse their children like that???