Gallery: The Most Depressing Quotes From The Kids On ‘Dance Moms’

I’ve had a hard time wrapping my head around the phenom that is Dance Moms, Lifetime’s response to Toddlers & Tiaras. Just a few short weeks ago, I wrote that I simply could not watch these psycho mothers parade their daughters around like show-ponies. I was a competitive dancer when I was younger and I hated to see an activity that I enjoyed so much become a joke because reality TV exposed its ugliest angle.

A friend of mine admonished me for criticizing the show before I had even watched it. “Those little girls may have cray-cray moms, but they’re talented! And adorable!” In other words, I thought, this whole nutso mother part might be secondary. Maybe the stars of the show were the cute little dancers prancing around in terrible sequined costumes to music they would never listen to. I might be able to reminisce to that. Maybe I shouldn’t judge the reality TV program by its crappy marketing department.

So, blinded by nostalgia, I sat down to watch a little Dance Moms. And it was terrifying. It was depressing and horrible and heart-wrenching. Those poor little children who watch their mothers scream like harpies and rant like lunatics. After trying to sit through an episode, I was furious. I was so angry on behalf of those kids that I didn’t even know how to process it.

This show is absolutely nothing like my experience trying to get to my lyrical routine into nationals. Why? Because I chose to dance all on my own. My parents were supportive only because I wanted to do it. When I decided that the long hours and constant pain were too much, I was allowed to quit, after I finished out the year, so as not to let down my team. The other glaring difference is that my parents always kept dancing in perspective. It was not the center of my universe. I would never have been allowed to miss school constantly because my studio needed me. And I would never have been permitted to snap at my mother like an actual prima ballerina.

All in all, this entire series just makes me feel sorry for these young children. I could share a lot of horrible quotes from the mothers on the show like, ”I do find myself at times putting dance before school and it’s probably not right.” I could give you a gallery of Miss Abby Lee Miller’s most nauseating gems, like “Kids should cry when their arm is broken and its hanging off or somebody died. That’s it.”

But instead, I’m going to pick out the few words spoken by these beautiful girls who are simply trying to make their mothers and instructors happy, yet seem pretty miserable in the process.

[ITPGallery]