-[Abby] Hello! -Hi, Abby!
How are you?
-Are you ready to work? -Uh-huh.
[Abby]
her mother Cathy dropped her off
because she was going to have lunch with Melissa.
And I was thrilled to get rid of Cathy
for the hour and a half.
-Alright. -Okay, I'll talk to you later.
-[Abby] Okay, thanks, Cath. -Bye, honey.
[Abby] Have fun.
Vivi is cute, she's a nice little girl,
but she's not at the level that Cathy thinks she is.
I don't know if privates with me are really what she needs,
but, hey, if the check's clear, let's do it.
Good. Chasse saute.
Chasse.
Knee, knee. One more, in four.
Vivi is not strong in acrobatics.
To the right, to the right, to the right.
Her jumps, her leaps are not as strong,
and she hasn't learned a lot of the things.
Step, right, kick, left. Start over.
She's dancing at a five, six-year-old level
instead of a seven, eight, nine.
Vivi needs to step it up.
You have to keep your knees together.
She just needs to be in class day after day after day.
Once she's with the dance company,
she's gonna be more independent.
And now we'll see if Cathy can handle that.
Alright, let's take it from the top, kid.
Can you tell me about your solo?
Do you want to do your solo this weekend?
You don't wanna do it.
My mom wants me to dance even more than I want to.
-No. -Remember I told you-- Listen.
Remember I told you that I would be
at the side of the stage? [clears throat]
What if I stand at the side of the stage...
-Mm-mm. -...and I count for you?
What, what do you think is gonna happen
if you get up on stage?
What if we try practicing it?
So, how, how am I supposed to handle this?
What do you want me to do?
Hmm? Look what happened last week.
You went on stage and you did that duo with...
[Cathy]
right at the moment.
Well, she has never had a solo before.
Going out on stage, forgetting your dance,
and then just standing there,
just standing there,
and then finally running off is the--
is the ultimate worst thing to happen at competition.
Not only are you embarrassed,
but the judges,
they're not even gonna score you.
It's no different than a child who comes into class
and pees their pants
and doesn't wanna go back into the dance studio.
Mentally, she is not prepared.
Hi, guys. Hi, ladies.
-Hi, Melissa! Hi Ada! -[Melissa] Hi!
-Hi. -Hi, um...
Um, I have, "My Pumps" first and that's Vivi-Anne, right?
No, it's not "My Pumps," it's called "Bumblebee."
-"Bumblebee"? -But what's...
Yes, you wanna come with me?
What is this?
That's what I'm confused about, we need to... Okay.
-Cathy! -Yes?
What is with this little rocket music?
-Um... -[tense music plays]
Vivi was uncomfortable with the solo
-that we worked on. -[tense music swells]
Because she had such a lack of rehearsal time.
And so, we are gonna go ahead
and do a piece that she already knows.
-What? -[indistinct chatter]
[Abby]
so that she feels like part of the company.
Cathy informs me
that she's gonna do another routine.
I'm like, "What?"
I'll just change this to independent entry.
[Cathy] You're doing what? You're changing it
-to independent? -Yes.
She's not gonna be going underneath your name?
I didn't do this number.
But she's-- but she's gonna be representing you.
Not with a number I didn't do
-in a costume I didn't design. -Okay.
Can I see you outside please?
We kind of went against the philosophy of Abby.
So, consequently, we had the wrath of Abby upon us.
Please, we need to change this independent thing
-because it's important to us. -I've never seen her
-even do the number. -I know.
You're gonna have to trust me.
Abby. Listen to me.
I'm not one of these dance moms.
Yeah, I'm Vivi's mom and we're involved in dance,
but I'm not that hysterical dance mom.
I know what is correct to take to stage.
You and I are over here
and if I have to make an executive decision,
then you have to trust me just as I will trust you.
Cathy, I came through.
I got the costume finished. The dance was finished.
Any other kid, whether their mother's a dance teacher
or their mother's a swimming coach,
would have had that dance nailed down.
She could not do a dance
that Abby Lee Miller has never seen
and pretend she came from Abby Lee Miller.
I have to put into perspective
what my child's mental capacity is.
Then she gets up on stage and she cracks.
I don't wanna be judgmental for any child,
but I'm just saying,
you don't have the faith in your kid that I do.
If you would have just ran it maybe ten times a day
-for... three days. -We tried with the bribery.
We tried with getting her
-to get an iPad. -You don't need a briber.
-You're the mommy. Just-- -I know that.
I realize that.
I wanna see her dance first.
-Okay, so you will-- -Give me that respect.
-When she goes out for awards, -We--
I want her in something red and black.
-Okay. I can-- -Or the costume.
Okay. Then she'll--
Moms that go against me
don't last very long.
They are hurting their children.
[Cathy]
I knew the response I was gonna get from Abby.
Face, face.
Her and I are gonna have to work together.
Hear it? Up and step. Look.
She likes to say that I'm her colleague.
Three, four, guns.
I may have to have special favors
that's different than the other moms.
[Cathy laughs]
That woman is crazy.
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.
Back, keep on.
The eyelashes are up here.
[Cathy] Let me see your eyelashes.
[Abby]
and brown and black,
all in the kid's head.
Mm. [smooch]
She's a hot mess.
And my name and my reputation are on the line.
[indistinct announcement]
[indistinct announcement continues]
-[Cathy] Ready? -[applause]
Ready?
[MC] Number 431, featuring Vivi-Anne Stein,
"This Little Girl is Now."
[audience cheering]
[indistinct chatter]
["This Little Girl Is Now" playing]
[Cathy] And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven...
...four, five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three, butt out, five, six, and forward.
-[audience laughing] -[Cathy] High kick.
[Abby]
I look at the level of difficulty.
-[Cathy] Scoot back. -[Abby]
is capable of doing more difficult choreography
-than she was given.
-[music ends] -[cheering, whooping]
[Cathy chuckles]
Oh!
You made one boo-boo. It's okay. It's okay.
[Abby]
I am going to cut those apron strings
and I am going to make that child a better dancer.
[tense music playing]
At this time, I would like to have
the following young ladies, please step forward.
Number 431. Vivi-Anne.
-[cheering, applause] -Good job. Congratulations.
And who taught you this number?
And the name of your dance studio.
[tense music swells]
[Abby]
I don't know if that was on purpose
or if her mother didn't rehearse her
on Abby Lee Dance Company.
My entire group of people
that we had sitting there watching her, flipped.
I apologize.
Not all competitions ask those questions
and I just didn't even think about it, so I apologize.
All I have in this world is my name.
Whether it be in a local competition...
-It will not happen again. -...or in a Broadway audition,
-it is my name. -I know, Abby,
-and it won't happen again. -Because that was embarrassing.
You need to move on. We're gonna move on.
-[singsongy] We can move... -Move on from that.
-Look, here. -From the wrong costume.
-Move on from now on... -Move on from the wrong outfits.
-We moved on... -Moving on up...
-Abby, Abby, I know, I know. -Abby. This is my name.
I know how you are.
-Okay. -I know how you are. I know.
Abby and I have kind of been at each other all morning,
all because of this whole choreography thing.
We are actually going to be leaving early today.
Alright, guys, we will see you later.
-Are you leaving? -Yes, we're leaving.
Yeah, we're gonna take off.
-You're leaving? -Yeah, we're leaving.
We have a long drive home. Much longer than you guys.
Yeah, but we all came early to watch her.
-[Melissa] Yeah. -[Cathy] I know, I know.
So we want to wish you guys good luck.
I know you'll do a great job.
[moms] Okay.
-Good job, Vivi. -Thank you.
Glad we woke up at six o'clock to...
-support her. -Six? Five!
I'm offended. Like, I really am offended.
-[overlapping chatter] -I am too.
Those parents are not happy.
They didn't have to be here for another two hours.
They could have had a nice breakfast.
They could have taken their time.
But, no, they all jumped out of bed
and ran over here to support her,
and she took off.
Oh, my God.
And since we're in Pittsburgh this weekend,
I'm gonna give every single one of you a solo.
I wasn't clapping because I knew
that we were gonna have to do the bee dance.
She has not mastered that solo yet.
And I know that Vivi is very uncomfortable
with new choreography.
I'm gonna put the music on,
and I wanna just see you do it, okay?
["Honey Bee" by The Kingmakers playing]
Stick your butt out.
Push hard. Kick it up. Get it up!
I am not happy with Vivi doing this bumblebee dance this week.
So being a dance teacher,
I just kind of took it upon myself
to say, "Hey, you know, let's get together
in a little room and let's rehearse the dance,"
but she doesn't wanna jump on to a new dance.
Come here.
[chuckles] Don't be mad at me.
What
Alright, don't-don't be upset.
Don't be upset.
Okay? Don't be upset.
Alright? Let's do it again.
Hey, Vivi, I need you for rehearsal.
Let's go, sweetheart.
I went into the den
to see who was next for rehearsal.
And there was Vivi-Anne. No mom.
I would so love for us to do something.
-You would love my girlfriends. -Yeah.
Come on over here.
Last week, Cathy went behind my back.
She let Vivi do an old routine that she had known.
That's not the point. That's not how we're learning
to pick up quickly.
So this week, I made sure
I pulled that kid out of the dressing room.
I put that bumblebee costume on her.
I had her run that routine over and over and over
so that that mother could not change it.
Oh! That fits you beautifully.
I don't like makeup and costumes.
["Honey Bee" by The Kingmakers playing]
-I'll let you get back to work. -Okay.
-Thank you. -Alright. Bye.
Chasse saute.
-Point those feet. -Oh, what do we have on?
[Abby] Point, point, point.
[Cathy]
that Vivi have to do this bumblebee dance,
I will certainly reimburse her for her time,
and we may not even be at the competition.
-[Cathy] So... -Do you wanna see?
I would love to see.
It's your time to show Mom that you can do this.
She doesn't have any faith in you.
Cathy underestimates Vivi-Anne.
She does not push her.
I think owning a studio,
she does not want it to be all about her daughter.
She does not wanna lose customers.
But in the process,
the child isn't where she should be, technically.
And that's why she's bringing her to me,
and that's my job, and that's what I'm gonna do.
She just needs to butt out.
-Good girl. -Good.
-Mm. -Mm. [mumbling]
-[smooch] -O ye of little faith.
[Cathy]
and I'm extremely nervous.
I wanna see her do a good job,
and I'm also excited for her
because she looks as adorable as a honeybee can possibly look.
[audience cheering]
[MC] Sing along to Vivi-Anne with "Bumblebee."
♪ Tastes so sweet from her head to her feet ♪
♪ No, that's something that can't be beat ♪
♪ No word of a lie, so don't even try ♪
♪ Ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
♪ Ah, can't you see? ♪
[Abby]
I taught her new steps, new acrobatic tricks
that really jacked up the level of difficulty in the routine.
♪ Ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
♪ There ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
-[music ends] -[indistinct chatter]
I love that dance.
-[Vivi-Anne mumbling] -Huh? No. It's okay.
No, you danced about eight months
ahead of the music. Yeah.
And I'm happy for you.
Huh?
You fell? You slipped. Well...
I don't know, honey.
I'm not, I'm not pleased with what you did.
You know that? And I don't think that Abby's gonna be either.
So we're gonna have to practice. We're gonna have to go back.
Listen. Look at me when I'm talking to you.
We're gonna have to go back home.
Go back to the dance studio and practice.
We're not here practicing.
We're gonna have to go back home.
My mom wants me to dance even more than I want to.
But you know what? We'll get it, okay?
We'll get it. Mm. [smooch]
[Vivi-Anne]
And I like to dance because it makes my mom happy.
Let's go change. Alright.
It's been really difficult for me
feeling that we're truly a part of this Abby Lee experience
because no matter how I try to fit in,
I'm not part of their history.
Hello!
[Abby] Alright, we just wanted to tell you all congratulations.
I-I thought you did a great job.
I don't know what happened.
But, anyway, do you have my bee costume?
You mean... hold on.
The ugly bee costume that Vivi wore?
-Yes. It was her first solo. -I gave it to the Goodwill.
[tense music plays]
Bill me.
It's a memory! It's irreplaceable!
Listen, disco ball, I'm not talking to you today.
This is between Abby and I. So pipe down.
-You need-- -Disco ball.
[Christi]
She's a nasty old bat.
By the way, Christi,
Whoville called, and they want your nose back.
-Oh, my God, Cathy. Listen. -[Cathy] Go ahead.
When you have a better insult,
-something that is-- -Go ahead. I'm not--
I'm not listening to you anymore.
When you have a better insult, that's a--
[Cathy] Please get out of my face.
Oh, no, I'll get right in your face.
-When you have-- -Oh, my. No, you won't.
-Disco ball. -Bring it, bitch.
You know, something? That's wonderful
that you talk like that in front of your kids,
but we don't talk like that in front of ours.
-Do we, moms? -[Christi] I know.
-Well, you know what, Cathy? -[Cathy] Move along.
The dog pound is calling. Move along.
Oh, my God. Do not put your hands on me.
Get out of my face.
Your Payless shoes need to walk out of here.
Oh, my God. All you care about is money.
-I'm not talking about money. -Really? Had--
Oh, my God. That's all you talk about.
You obviously have a complexity issue.
I'm talking about style, and you know have none.
-Take your hands off of me. -You know what?
Take your hands off of me.
Cathy wrapped that icy, cold, bony little hand around me.
It was like the Grim Reaper was holding onto my wrist. Ugh.
Move along, disco ball.
Oh, my God, you wish!
Guess what, Cathy?
You can't beat us. So go home.
Stop trying. Give up.
[Abby]
It's music I've used before.
♪ Ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
It's called "Honey Bee,"
but I think Mackenzie is more of a killer bee.
Beautiful.
She's gonna go out there and sting her competition.
If Vivi-Anne happens to be waiting in the wings
and gets stung,
oh, well, hope she's not allergic to bees.
This is it. You've come a long way.
And you're going out there to put Vivi-Anne in her place.
If you don't win, it defeats
the whole purpose of doing the bee dance
and I look like an idiot,
and that's not gonna happen around Cathy.
Come on, girls, game faces, let's do it.
[Mackenzie]
the "Killer Bee,"
except I'm really nervous
because I don't know what Cathy and Vivi
are gonna do to me.
[MC] Please welcome to the stage,
-Mackenzie, performing... -[cheering, whooping]
[Abby] Whoo!
♪ Tastes so sweet from her head to her feet ♪
♪ No, that's something that can't be beat ♪
♪ No word of a lie, so don't even try ♪
♪ Ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
♪ Ah, can't you see ♪
♪ Ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
♪ Ah, can't you see ♪
[Cathy]
I'm not a big fan of this dance at all.
♪ Ain't no honey sweeter than my honeybee ♪
[Abby]
She loves the dance,
loves the hair bows.
She loves it all.
And you can tell that when you're watching her dance.
She stepped out on stage
like that killer bee.
And she buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzzed around that stage
like there was no tomorrow.
-Whoo-hoo! Whoo! -[cheering]
She got this!
I think she gave those judges a good sting,
and they know all about Mackenzie.
And our first place, top-scoring,
Energy Petite soloist...
-[drumroll] -...goes to entry number 52A,
"Killer Bee," Mackenzie, from the Abby Lee Dance Company.
-[cheering, applause] -[girl screams]
You did so great!
Mackenzie is also our title winner
for Miss Energy.
So we would like to crown her now.
Congratulations.
Yay!
She's not Maddie, but she's Mackenzie,
and she's an amazing little dancer.
I'm just very proud of her.